It - amnesty.org · definite the happen. definite: ... French Inter-D.F." but Chicago"; Islands"...
45
24 THE GUARDIAN. May 24, 1981 Amnesty International was launched in 1961 to bring out of the dungeons the forgotten prisoners. It began with a newspaper article calling on people of all walks of life to begin working impartially and peacefully for the release of men and women imprisoned throughout the world for their beliefs. These were to be called "prisoners of conscience", and with that a new phrase entered the vocabulary of world affairs. Within a month of that first appeal, scores of people from various countries came forward with offers of help. What started as a brief publicity effort was soon to be transformed into a permanent international movement. In each case where the free expression of views was being suppressed by torture and imprisonment, Amnesty International members (slowly being organized into groups) attempted the seemingly impossible. They began their own battle against official silence and political persecution. They contacted the prisoners' families and lawyers and began sending off postcards, letters and telegrams appealing to government authorities to respect human rights. - 1 ,4 • Vocal critics As the movement became better known and attracted more support, its critics became vocal. A report on allegations of ill-treatment of detainees in Northern Ireland caused a furore in the United Kingdom, the country where the Amnesty appeal had first appeared. As other reports came out on country after country, denunciations followed. The Soviet journal lzvestia referred to "ideological saboteurs"; Rastalchiz in han dubbed Amnesty "a new puppet show that the communists have started". But from inside the very countries that were damning Amnesty came other voices. The postcards and the telegrams and the little parcels of medicine were getting through. Letters came back, many of them smuggled out of prison or past airport censors. "We have been able to face our problems with great determination as a result of encouragement from people like you," wrote Winnie Mandela, one of the best-known leaders of Black opinion in South Africa. "We know that we are not alone in our life- long battle. We owe this feeling to you...." t la rgyall, It was being tortured by the police they opened a telephone line between the torture chamber and the prisoner's home, forcing his wife to listen to her husband's screams. During that ordeal she died of a heart attack. The prisoner himself survived and was eventually allowed to go into exile with his children. He told us: "They killed my wife. They would have killed me too; but you intervened and saved my life." Our mandate Mounting evidence From the labour camps, from the torture cells, from the families and lawyers came new accounts of torture, of psychiatric abuse, of secret executions. Faced with mounting evidence of the atrocities being inflicted on prisoners, an epidemic that seemed to spread like a cancer in the seventies, Amnesty International launched a global campaign for the abolition of torture. Wherever prisoners were being subjected to torture—there were dozens of nations where the practice had become systematic, leading to mutilation and deaths in detention—Amnesty International would intervene. A new network was set up, using telephones, post office boxes, telegrams and telex machines to cross-check reports of arrests and alert volunteers if torture was a possibility. Once a report was checked, hundreds of appeals could be on their way within hours. It became a life saving operation. Among the many victims was a teacher. While he Secure the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. Ensure fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners. Abolish torture and executions. Our campaign You can find out more about Amnesty International, including addresses of our local groups and sections, by writing to Amnesty International, 10 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HF, United Kingdom. You can send a donation by international money order payable to Amnesty International, at the same address. We rely on individual donations to remain free from interference by governments, funding agencies or pressure groups. Another voice from prison: —Faith in your efforts and concern sustained me throughout the horrible period of my imprisonment. Without hope 1 think I would have died." The movement had become a lifeline—a "con- spiracy of hope", open to everyone prepared to work in defence of human dignity. It had proved that ordinary people could work together regardless of politics in an effort to halt the excesses of tyranny. Today, Amnesty International has supporters and groups in more than 130 countries throughout the world. It has remained independent of any govern- ment, political grouping, ideology, economic interest or religious creed. In less than 20 years. Amnesty International groups have intervened on behalf of more than 20,000 known or possible prisoners of conscience in over a hundred countries, with governments across the political spectrum. But we are under no illusion about the challenge we face. Countless prisoners remain. Torture remains. Executions are reported daily. Now human rights run the risk of being dragged down in the tangle of international power politics. Enormous work will be needed to reach the point where world public opinion can rmally put an end to the nightmare of arbitrary arrests, torture and killing. Success depends on the support of volunteers ready to write letters, send telegrams, organize meetings and join in the effort. You can help immediately by sharing this page with others and sending a donation to keep the work going.
Transcript of It - amnesty.org · definite the happen. definite: ... French Inter-D.F." but Chicago"; Islands"...
24T
HE
G
UA
RD
IAN
. M
ay
24,
1981
Am
nest
y In
tern
atio
nal
was
la
unch
ed
in
1961
to
br
ing
out
of
the
dung
eons
th
efo
rgot
ten
pris
oner
s.
It b
egan
w
ith
a ne
wsp
aper
ar
ticle
ca
lling
on
peop
le
of a
ll w
alks
of
life
to b
egin
wor
king
im
part
ially
an
d pe
acef
ully
fo
r th
e re
leas
e of
men
and
wom
en
impr
ison
ed
thro
ugho
ut
the
wor
ld f
or
thei
r be
liefs
. T
hese
wer
e to
be
calle
d "p
riso
ners
of
cons
cien
ce",
an
d w
ith
that
a n
ew p
hras
e en
tere
d th
e vo
cabu
lary
of
wor
ld a
ffai
rs.
With
in
a m
onth
of
th
at
firs
t ap
peal
, sc
ores
of
peop
le
from
va
riou
s co
untr
ies
cam
e fo
rwar
d w
ith
offe
rs o
f he
lp.
Wha
t st
arte
d as
a b
rief
pub
licity
ef
fort
was
so
on
to
be
tran
sfor
med
in
to
a pe
rman
ent
inte
rnat
iona
l m
ovem
ent.
In
each
ca
se
whe
re
the
free
exp
ress
ion
of v
iew
s
was
bei
ng
supp
ress
ed
by
tort
ure
and
impr
ison
men
t,
Am
nest
y In
tern
atio
nal
mem
bers
(s
low
ly
bein
g
orga
nize
d in
to
grou
ps)
atte
mpt
ed
the
seem
ingl
y
impo
ssib
le.
The
y be
gan
thei
r ow
n ba
ttle
agai
nst
offi
cial
si
lenc
e an
d po
litic
al
pers
ecut
ion.
T
hey
cont
acte
d th
e pr
ison
ers'
fa
mili
es
and
law
yers
an
d
bega
n se
ndin
g of
f po
stca
rds,
le
tters
an
d te
legr
ams
appe
alin
g to
go
vern
men
t au
thor
ities
to
re
spec
t
hum
an r
ight
s.
-
1
,4
•
Vo
cal
crit
ics
As
the
mov
emen
t be
cam
e be
tter
know
n an
d
attr
acte
d m
ore
supp
ort,
its
criti
cs
beca
me
voca
l.
A r
epor
t on
al
lega
tions
of
ill-
trea
tmen
t of
det
aine
es
in
Nor
ther
n Ir
elan
d ca
used
a
furo
re
in t
he
Uni
ted
Kin
gdom
, th
e co
untr
y w
here
th
e A
mne
sty
appe
al
had
firs
t ap
pear
ed.
As
othe
r re
port
s ca
me
out
on
coun
try
afte
r co
untr
y,
denu
ncia
tions
fo
llow
ed.
The
Sovi
et
jour
nal
lzve
stia
refe
rred
to
"i
deol
ogic
al
sabo
teur
s";
Ras
talc
hiz
in
han
dubb
ed
Am
nest
y
"a
new
pu
ppet
sh
ow
that
th
e co
mm
unis
ts
have
star
ted"
.B
ut
from
in
side
th
e ve
ry
coun
trie
s th
at
wer
e
dam
ning
A
mne
sty
cam
e ot
her
voic
es.
The
pos
tcar
ds
and
the
tele
gram
s an
d th
e lit
tle
parc
els
of m
edic
ine
wer
e ge
tting
th
roug
h.
Let
ters
ca
me
back
, m
any
of
them
sm
uggl
ed
out
of
pris
on
or
past
ai
rpor
t
cens
ors.
"W
e ha
ve
been
ab
le
to
face
our
pr
oble
ms
with
gre
at d
eter
min
atio
n as
a r
esul
t of
enc
oura
gem
ent
from
pe
ople
lik
e yo
u,"
wro
te
Win
nie
Man
dela
, on
e
of t
he b
est-
know
n le
ader
s of
Bla
ck o
pini
on
in S
outh
Afr
ica.
"W
e kn
ow
that
w
e ar
e no
t al
one
in o
ur l
ife-
long
bat
tle.
We
owe
this
fee
ling
to y
ou...
."
tla
rgya
ll,
It
was
be
ing
tort
ured
by
th
e po
lice
they
op
ened
a
tele
phon
e lin
e be
twee
n th
e to
rtur
e ch
ambe
r an
d th
e
pris
oner
's
hom
e,
forc
ing
his
wif
e to
lis
ten
to
her
husb
and'
s sc
ream
s.
Dur
ing
that
or
deal
sh
e di
ed
of
a he
art
atta
ck.
The
pri
sone
r hi
mse
lf s
urvi
ved
and
was
even
tual
ly
allo
wed
to
go i
nto
exile
with
hi
s ch
ildre
n.
He
told
us
: "T
hey
kille
d m
y w
ife.
The
y w
ould
ha
ve
kille
d m
e to
o;
but
you
inte
rven
ed
and
save
d m
y
life.
" Ou
r m
and
ate
Mo
un
tin
g e
vid
ence
From
th
e la
bour
ca
mps
, fr
om
the
tort
ure
cells
,
from
the
fam
ilies
and
law
yers
cam
e ne
w a
ccou
nts
of
tort
ure,
of
ps
ychi
atri
c ab
use,
of
se
cret
ex
ecut
ions
.
Face
d w
ith
mou
ntin
g ev
iden
ce
of
the
atro
citie
s
bein
g in
flic
ted
on p
riso
ners
, an
epi
dem
ic t
hat
seem
ed
to
spre
ad
like
a ca
ncer
in
th
e se
vent
ies,
A
mne
sty
Inte
rnat
iona
l la
unch
ed
a gl
obal
ca
mpa
ign
for
the
abol
ition
of
tor
ture
.W
here
ver
pris
oner
s w
ere
bein
g su
bjec
ted
to
tort
ure—
ther
e w
ere
doze
ns
of
natio
ns
whe
re
the
prac
tice
had
beco
me
syst
emat
ic,
lead
ing
to m
utila
tion
and
deat
hs
in
dete
ntio
n—A
mne
sty
Inte
rnat
iona
l
wou
ld
inte
rven
e.
A n
ew n
etw
ork
was
set
up
, us
ing
tele
phon
es,
post
of
fice
bo
xes,
te
legr
ams
and
tele
x
mac
hine
s to
cr
oss-
chec
k re
port
s of
ar
rest
s an
d al
ert
volu
ntee
rs
if t
ortu
re
was
a p
ossi
bilit
y.
Onc
e a
repo
rt
was
che
cked
, hu
ndre
ds
of
appe
als
coul
d be
on
thei
r
way
with
in h
ours
. It
bec
ame
a lif
e sa
ving
ope
ratio
n.
Am
ong
the
man
y vi
ctim
s w
as a
tea
cher
. W
hile
he
Secu
re
the
imm
edia
te
and
unco
ndit
iona
l
rele
ase
of a
ll pr
ison
ers o
f co
nsci
ence
.
Ens
ure
fair
and
pro
mpt
tri
als
for
all p
olit
ical
pris
oner
s.
Abo
lish
tort
ure
and
exec
utio
ns.
Ou
r ca
mp
aig
nY
ou c
an
find
ou
t m
ore
abou
t A
mne
sty
Inte
rnat
iona
l, in
clud
ing
addr
esse
s of
our
loc
al
grou
ps
and
sect
ions
, by
w
riti
ng t
o A
mne
sty
Inte
rnat
iona
l, 10
Sou
tham
pton
Str
eet,
Lon
don
WC
2E 7
HF
, U
nite
d K
ingd
om.
You
can
sen
d a
dona
tion
by
inte
rnat
iona
l
mon
ey o
rder
pay
able
to
Am
nest
y In
tern
atio
nal,
at
the
sam
e ad
dres
s. W
e re
ly
on
indi
vidu
al
dona
tion
s to
rem
ain
free
fro
m i
nter
fere
nce
by
gove
rnm
ents
, fu
ndin
g ag
enci
es
or
pres
sure
grou
ps.
Ano
ther
vo
ice
from
pri
son:
—
Faith
in y
our
effo
rts
and
conc
ern
sust
aine
d m
e th
roug
hout
th
e ho
rrib
le
peri
od
of
my
impr
ison
men
t. W
ithou
t ho
pe
1 th
ink
I
wou
ld h
ave
died
."T
he
mov
emen
t ha
d be
com
e a
lifel
ine—
a "c
on-
spir
acy
of h
ope"
, op
en t
o ev
eryo
ne p
repa
red
to w
ork
in
defe
nce
of
hum
an
dign
ity.
It
had
prov
ed
that
ordi
nary
pe
ople
co
uld
wor
k to
geth
er
rega
rdle
ss
of
polit
ics
in a
n ef
fort
to
hal
t th
e ex
cess
es o
f ty
rann
y.
Tod
ay,
Am
nest
y In
tern
atio
nal
has
supp
orte
rs
and
grou
ps
in
mor
e th
an
130
coun
trie
s th
roug
hout
th
e
wor
ld.
It
has
rem
aine
d in
depe
nden
t of
an
y go
vern
-
men
t, po
litic
al
grou
ping
, id
eolo
gy,
econ
omic
in
tere
st
or r
elig
ious
cre
ed.
In
less
th
an
20
year
s.
Am
nest
y In
tern
atio
nal
grou
ps
have
in
terv
ened
on
be
half
of
m
ore
than
20,0
00
know
n or
po
ssib
le
pris
oner
s of
co
nsci
ence
in
over
a
hund
red
coun
trie
s,
with
go
vern
men
ts
acro
ss t
he p
oliti
cal
spec
trum
.
But
w
e ar
e un
der
no i
llusi
on a
bout
th
e ch
alle
nge
we
face
. C
ount
less
pri
sone
rs r
emai
n. T
ortu
re
rem
ains
.
Exe
cutio
ns
are
repo
rted
da
ily.
Now
hu
man
ri
ghts
run
the
risk
of
bein
g dr
agge
d do
wn
in t
he t
angl
e of
inte
rnat
iona
l po
wer
pol
itics
.
Eno
rmou
s w
ork
will
be
need
ed
to r
each
the
poi
nt
whe
re
wor
ld
publ
ic
opin
ion
can
rmal
ly
put
an e
nd
to
the
nigh
tmar
e of
ar
bitr
ary
arre
sts,
to
rtur
e an
d
killi
ng.
Succ
ess
depe
nds
on
the
supp
ort
of
volu
ntee
rs
read
y to
w
rite
le
tters
, se
nd
tele
gram
s,
orga
nize
mee
tings
an
d jo
in
in
the
effo
rt.
You
ca
n he
lp
imm
edia
tely
by
sh
arin
g th
is
page
w
ith
othe
rs
and
send
ing
a do
natio
n to
kee
p th
e w
ork
goin
g.
,
•••••
'Sala
•••1/40.
4
ja0
s r
complet y revised1981
"If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant;if what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be doneremains undone."
— Confucius
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
STYLE BOOK
Amnesty International Publications
Before you begin
The twin purpose of this style book is to ensure consistent Englishusage in the International Secretariat and to guide all staff in writingtexts that meet the needs of translators and editors.
The style is based on several basic references: United NationsEditorial Directives, the United Press International Stylebook, theOxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, EricPartridge's Usage and Abuse and Sir Ernest Gower's The CompletePlain Words.
The style also takes into account the need for Amnesty Inter-national to use internationally acceptable terminology, rather thansimply British idiom.
The basic reference for all questions of spelling, hyphenation andidiom not contained in this style book is the Oxford AdvancedLearner's Dictionary of Current English.
Where appropriate, definitions and additional information havebeen given to make this style book a useful reference document onpoints that commonly arise in Al work.
Words with no comment have been included to indicate spellingonly.
Pages 2-3 give typing instructions for manuscripts to be edited.Pages 4-5 give examples of typed letters and manuscripts.Pages 6-8 give general advice on keeping your style lively and
precise.Pages 67-74 give the official English, names of countries and
adjectives of nationality.Pages 75-78 give an index of editor's marks and proof-reading
symbols.
Amnesty International Publications 1981All rights reserved.First edition: "Amnesty International Style Sheet" 1972Second edition, 1973Third edition, completely revised November 1979Fourth edition, completely revised April 1981AI Index: ACT 81/01/01
1
Preparing a manuscript
Inserts
1 1. All material to be inserted into the text should be typed double-spaced on separate sheets. Each insert should be numbered tofollow the page on which it is to appear (for example, 34A, 34B).At the point where the insert is to appear, put an arrow with thewords "insert page 34A".
Pages
Type on one side of the sheet only.The text should be typed triple-spaced (or double-spaced ifnecessary), never single-spaced.Both left and right margins should be at least 3cm wide (or 14typewriter spaces).A space of at least 3cm should be left at the top and bottom ofeach page (or four typewriter double spaces).Number all pages consecutively (do not start new page numbersfor each new topic or chapter). Pages numbers should appear inthe centre at the top of the page.Put an extra space between paragraphs.Indent all new paragraphs five spaces. The opening paragraph andall paragraphs immediately after a heading or subheading shouldnot be indented.
•Footnotes
Do not type footnotes on the same page as the text. All footnotesshould be typed, double-spaced, on separate pages to follow theend of a short text or at the end of each chapter in a long report.
Extracts and quotationsAll quotations of more than two sentences or 100 words shouldbe typed double-spaced and set off from the text by indentingthem five spaces from the left margin.A copy of each original quotation in its original language mustalways be given to the editor with the text so that this can begiven to translators as necessary (news clippings, legislation,extracts from speeches).
23
Sample letter Sample manuscript— 36—
amnestyinternational
TORTURE TESTIMONIES
International Secretariat. 10 Southampmn Street. London WC2E 7HF. EnglandTekphone: 01-836 7788 Telegrams: Amnesty London Telex: 28502
MW/LUSGO 2 December 1980
Her Excellency,Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,10 Downing Street,London,United Kingdom.
Although torture is prohibited by the South Korean constitution of 1980,
Amnesty International is nevertheless concerned that in some cases
political prisoners have been tortured during interrogation to force
them to sign false statements.
Dear Prime Minister,
I have the honour of addressing Your Excellency with respect to thecase of Kim Dae-jung, the opposition leader in the Republic of Korea,now under sentence of death. I am taking the unusual step of requestingYour Excellency to intercede on behalf of Kim Dae-jung with His Excellency,President Chtm Doo-hwan, in the event that the Supreme Court of theRepublic of Korea confirms the death sentence passed by a military courtlast September. If the death sentence is confirmed, the President of theRepublic has discretionary power to commute it.
I am addressing this request to Your Excellencyas Head of Governmentof one of the nations currently comprising the United Nations Commissionon Human Rights which, under the Charter of the United Nations, isresponsible for the promotion and protection of human rights andfundamental freedcms.
Amnesty International believes this unusual request is justified bythe special character of the case of Kim Dae-jung. Since the 1960s, KimDae-jung has been subjected to a series of hmaan rights violations:imprisonment for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom ofexpression, ill-treatment during detention, unfair trial and now theimposition of the death penalty. M the most prominent leader of theopposition in South Korea, he has repeatedly been a victim of exile,imprisonment and house arrest. He has never been known to advocate politicalchange by violence, but has conducted his political activity within theframework of the country's constitution.
The following cases illustrate reports of ill-treatment carried
out between 1974 and 1980. Except where the cases have been publicized
in the past, the victims' names are not given for their own protection;
in some cases dates and places have also been omitted to prevent
identification.
"Peo le's Revolutiona Part " Case
Yours sincerely and respectfully,"I was taken to ... Korean Police Station on ... April 1974
from where I was taken to the Central Intelligence Agency
(MIA) where I was interrogated in three different rooms.
I was viciously beaten.Thames HammarbergSecrete General
Amnesia hues nal lonal et a 0 011d0 kb 11110i:01M hk Ii 01 L% imp.ot tells I ni ihc leleaw to moaners et convantec men and women detained ens %hoct.t then Matti. toktur. ethnic O;IflhII. M. re limn 01 language. provided they hoe nen he: used nor advocated vioknce. Amnesty Intonational oppows
tumor end the drab penalty in all casts v. dhow marathon and advocates lair and prompt trials fot all Polities! Prlsonera. Amnesty Intelnalmnalindependent of any Internment. political moulting. ideology. economic Mt UUU or !clip Mut creed. It is financed by its membetthip end by sulocript mnsitton all palls ol thr nottd. Amnesty Internatonal hes consultant nous with the United Nations (FOOSOC), UPOSCO and the found of Lumps. hasLI:appoint ;damn till. the Mte•Amesican Commission on Human Ras ot the Ontamaation of Amerkin States, and is a membe of ilwCoottlinat mg Committee of the Ilble011 f01 the Placemeni and Ed twat Mn of African Refugees of the Orpnital son of African in v.
"Around ... April at about 6 pm I was again taken to an
interrogation room at the KCIA where two KCIA agents and
two or three policemen administered water torture. First
I was forced to kneeldown on the cement floor, where I
45
Sample manuscript— 36—
TORTURE TESTIMONIES
Tips for activists
Much of what we read in our work comes from bureaucrats andpeople who are trying to sound important. If we copy their manner-isms, we risk losing the freshness and sensitivity we need whenreporting facts about human tragedies.
What are these mannerisms?Using a long word when a short one will do. Using abstract phrases
instead of giving details. Using the passive voice instead of the active.Using cumbersome nouns when a simple verb will do the trick.
There are easy ways to protect ourselves from these bad habits.Every "how to write" book gives the same advice. Here it is in eightstrokes:
Although torture is prohibited by the South Korean constitution of 1980,
Amnesty International is nevertheless concerned that in some cases
political prisoners have been tortured during interrogation to force
them to sign false statements.
Be active
The active voice is more direct and vigorous than the passive. Put thesubject of the sentence first, then the verb, then the object of theverb.
active:The state prosecutor called for the death penalty.passive:The death penalty was called for by the state prosecutor.
The following cases illustrate reports of ill—treatment carried
out between 1974 and 1980. Except where the cases have been publicized
in the past, the victims' names are not given for their own protection;
in some cases dates and places have also been omitted to prevent
identification.
Be definiteMake definite assertions, as far as you possibly can. Don't give thereader a description of what did not happen.
definite:The government's decision is timely.indefinite: The government's decision cannot be considereduntimely.
"Peo le's Revolutionar Part " Case
Be specificAvoid abstract terms and generalizations. Tell the reader exactlywhat happened.
specific:Her interrogators forced her to strip, threatened her withrape and told her she would never see her husband again.abstract:She was subjected to psychological torture in the form ofsexually humiliating threats.
"I was taken to ... Korean Police Station on ... April 1974
from where I was taken to the Central Intelligence Agency
(KCIA) where I was interrogated in three different rooms.
I was viciously beaten.
"Around ... April at about 6 pm I was again taken to an
interrogation room at the KCIA where two KCIA agents and
two or three policemen administered water torture. First
I was forced to kneel down on the cement floor, where I
6 5
Tips for activists
4. Be concise
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no un-
necessary sentences, just as a drawing should have no unnecessary
lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.Many expressions in common use ignore this rule:
"owing to the fact that" is simply "since" or "because";"in respect of" is simply "about".
(Many of the entries in this style book give simple words you can use
instead of roundabout phrases.)Much of what we read in our work comes from bureaucrats andpeople who are trying to sound important. If we copy their manner-
isms, we risk losing the freshness and sensitivity we need when
reporting facts about human tragedies.What are these mannerisms?Using a long word when a short one will do. Using abstract phrases
instead of giving details. Using the passive voice instead of the active.
Using cumbersome nouns when a simple verb will do the trick.
There are easy ways to protect ourselves from these bad habits.
Every "how to write" book gives the same advice. Here it is in eight
strokes:
5. Be simple
Many long sentences can be broken up into two or more simple
sentences. Translators appreciate one idea a sentence. In many
languages the whole sequence of the sentence has to be reversed. A
complicated sentence can make this difficult.
"His mother, who despaired of his ever receiving proper medical
treatment, consulted several Leningrad doctors, and on the basis
of the symptoms she described, they concluded that he was
suffering from calcium deficiency."
"His mother despaired of his ever receiving proper medical treat-
ment and consulted several Leningrad doctors. They concluded
from the symptoms she described that he was suffering from
calcium deficiency."
Be active
The active voice is more direct and vigorous than the passive. Put the
subject of the sentence first, then the verb, then the object of the
verb.
active: The state prosecutor called for the death penalty.
passive: The death penalty was called for by the state prosecutor.
Be definite
Make definite assertions, as far as you possibly can. Don't give the
reader a description of what did not happen.
definite: The government's decision is timely.
indefinite: The government's decision cannot be considered
untimely.
Be specific
Avoid abstract terms and generalizations. Tell the reader exactly
what happened.
specific: Her interrogators forced her to strip, threatened her withrape and told her she would never see her husband again.
abstract: She was subjected to psychological torture in the form of
sexually humiliating threats.
6
6. Be brutal
Take the advice of Harold Evans, editor of The Times: take a razor
to your text as if you were sending a telegram at £5 a word:
"Handcuffs are applied as a measure of restrainingviolent prisoners." (£50)
"Handcuffs are applied to restrain violent prisoners."
"Violent prisoners are restrained by handcuffs." (t5)£330)
"Violent prisoners are handcuffed." (£20)
You can usually get straight to the point in English if you:
use verbs instead of nouns"The release of detainees can be obtained if there has been fulfil-
ment of all these requirements."
"Detainees can be released if they have fulfilled all these require-
ments."
use short words and sentences"The commencement of the arrests at 4.00 am took place simul-
7
taneously with the obstruction of the four main entrances to thecampus by members of the armed forces."
"The arrests began at 4.00 am. At the same time troops blockedthe four main entrances to the campus."
Be c onsisten t
Check spelling and correct usage with the Oxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary of Current English.
Once you have chosen the correct word to express your meaning,think carefully before varying it. Using a variety of synonyms may begood style in journalism, but it can result in nightmares for translatorsand people for whom English is a second language.
Spanish: "Sr.", "Sra.":'Srta."always take full stops.
Be warnedSomewhere out there is the anonymous diplomat who warned:
"What appears to be a sloppy or meaningless use of words maywell be a completely correct use of words to express sloppy ormeaningless ideas!"
abolish Legislation is not "abol-ished". What are abolished arethe procedures or penalties pro-vided for by the legislation.
AI Always use full name—Amnesty International—through-out major external documents.Otherwise, use full name on firstreference, followed by (Al).Afterwards use "AI". Never use"Amnesty". Never use "we" or"us"when referring to theorganization in writing (see"Amnesty International").
above-mentioned Do not usethis cumbersome term unlessabsolutely necessary to avoidconfusion.abbreviations Do not assume
that people know what anabbreviation stands for. Give thefull name the first time you useit , put the abbreviation inparentheses after it. Thereafteruse the abbreviation.
"United Nations (UN)","European Economic Com-munity (EEC)", "AmnestyInternational (Ai)".
abrogate Treaties or contractsare "abrogated", not laws.
accents Include accents onforeign names and words where-ever these would be included inthe original language.
Except for initials that are partof people's given names, Englishabbreviations normally do nottake full stops:
"Ms", "Dr", "OAU","UN", "USA", but "H.L.Mencken".French: "M.", but "Mme" and
"Mlle" do not take full stops."Dr" used only for medicaldoctor.
accused One is "accused of",not "with", a crime. "Theaccused" is a person chargedwith or prosecuted for havingcommitted an offence. Do notuse "the accused" in a civil casewhere one party is suing another.Plural: "the accused" (see"defendant").
acknowledge, acknowledgment
acquit
8 9
act ambassadoraffect
act Capitalize in full title oflegislation:
"Internal Security Act", but"Under the act an individualmay be detained for twoyears."
affidavit
affidavit
after-effects Hyphenate.
have been arrested under theadministration of PresidentSuharto."
admiral (See "titles" .) Form ofaddress: Sir. Complimentaryclose: Yours faithfully.
ad hoc Underline (italics): Mean-ing: arranged for this purpose.
adopted Use full phrase:"She was adopted by AmnestyInternational as a prisonerof conscience", not just:"adopted by AI".See "double-" and "triple-adopted".
wrong: "The prosecutoraccused her of allegedly takinga bribe."Do not say "He attended the
alleged meeting", when what youmean is "He allegedly attendedthe meeting".
Do not say "They were con-victed of alleged treason" whenthey were "convicted oftreason"—even if, in the opinionof Amnesty International, theywere unjustly convicted.
adjectives Cultivate the habit ofusing adjectives and adverbs onlyto make your meaning more pre-cise. Suspect those that you findyourself using for emphasis.
Vague adjectives of intensi-fication like "considerable","substantial", "real" are usuallyunnecessary.
Avoid phrases like "activecampaign", "definite decision","essential condition", "acutecrisis", by asking yourself if theadjective is necessary to distin-guish the noun from somethingopposite in meaning such as a"(passive) campaign"!
age A rough guide:
Baby or infant—birth to 12months;Child-1 to 12 years;Teenager-13 to 19 years;Young man/woman-20 to 29years;Man/woman-30+Elderly-70+"He was 20 days old." "A 20-day-old baby . . ."
adoption group Do not capi-talize. agent provocateur Underline
(italics). Always use full term.adverbs within verbs Place anadverb after the first auxiliary:
right: "There have always beencircumstances .. ."wrong: "There always havebeen circumstances . . ."
allegation Always observe thedistinction between an "allega-tion" and a "fact" (see "allege").Allegations are usually "rejected"or "denied" (see "refute"). Theycan be "substantiated" and"confirmed" not "vindicated".
AIP Amnesty InternationalPublications. The imprint ofpublications issued under theauthority of the InternationalExecutive Committee of AmnestyInternational.
advertise
Adventist Correct title: Seventh-Day Adventist.
air force Two words. Do not
capitalize unless using exact fulltitle.
advise (v), advice (n) "Advise" isthe verb; "advice" is the noun(see "counsel").
alibi Not a synonym for"excuse". Use only in legal sense:a plea that one was at anotherplace at the time of an allegedact.
although Use instead of"though" (except in "eventhough"). To avoid confusion use"although" instead of "while" toindicate a contradiction.
Confusing: "While he wascharged with anti-stateagitation, the proper legalprocedures were notfollowed."adviser
aircraft Preferable to "aero-plane" or "airplane".
airport
all right Not "alright".altogether Not a synonym for "alltogether". To avoid confusion,use "completely" or "entirely"instead.administration Preferable to
"regime", but not synonym for"government".
"Thousands are believed to
affect, effect "Affect", as a verb,means to influence. As a noun,it is best avoided unless referringto the precise meaning in psy-chology. "Effect", as a verb,means to cause. As a noun, itmeans result.
allege Avoid excessive use of"alleged".
right: "The prosecutor allegedthat she took the bribe."
ambassador (See "titles".) Formof address: Your Excellency.
10 11
amid anarchism annual report attorney
Complimentary close: Respectsfully and sincerely yours, orPlease accept, Your Excellency,the assurance of my highestco nsideration.
use "taken into custody" (see"detainee" and "apprehend").
annual report Do not capitalize,or underline (italics). This is notthe title of a book.
amid Nol amidst.
annul To invalidate or put anend to a contract or law. Usuallydone by an authority external tothose bound by the contract orlaw.
amnesty A general pardon or actof exoneration or indemnity.Amnesties are "announced","declared", "proclaimed" or"granted".
"She granted an amnesty toall political prisoners for allpolitical offences."
article Capitalize if referring tonumbered item in legislation:
"He was charged under Article190-1 of the Criminal Code."
Do not capitalize in generalreferences:
"The articles do not providefor imprisonment exceedingthree years."
Note: "section", "sub-section","paragraph" are not capitalized.
apartheid Underline (italics): itis an Afrikaans word.
appal, appalling
Amnesty International News-letter Use the full title on firstreference. On second reference"the Newsletter" is acceptable.Underline (italics).
as regards Can usually be ex-pressed more simply by "for","or', or "on".
"She asked for the govern-ment's view (as regards) onterrorism."
apprehend May be used as asynonym for "hold" and "takeinto custody" when it is unclearwhether an individual has beenarrested (see "arrest") or detained(see "detainee"). "Apprehend"can also refer to the initialseizure of an individual beforeshe/he is arrested, detained orreleased without being charged.
"Whether" isas to whethersufficient.
Amnesty International ReportThis is the correct title ofAmnesty International's annualreport (see "annual report").
men and women imprisoned any-where for their beliefs, colour,ethnic origin, sex, religion orlanguage, provided that they havenot used or advocated violence.Amnesty International opposestorture and the death penalty inall cases without reservation andadvocates fair and prompt trialsfor political prisoners. AmnestyInternational is financed by itsmembership and by subscriptionsfrom all parts of the world.Amnesty International has con-sultative status with the UnitedNations (ECOSOC), UNESCOand the Council of Europe, hascooperative relations with theInter-American Commission onHuman Rights of the Organiz-ation of American States and is amember of the CoordinatingCommittee of the Bureau for thePlacement and Education ofAfrican Refugees of the Organiz-ation of African Unity."
among Not "amongst".arbitrary Meaning: based on im-pulse or opinion only; dictatorial;using despotic power. Not asynonym for "indiscriminate".
Am nest y Int ernat io nal In asentence:
"The international organiz-ation that works for the releaseof prisoners of conscience , fairtrials for political prisoners andan end to torture andexecutions."
assault Popularly, "assault"almost always means sudden,intense violence. In English law,"assault" also means to threatenviolence. "Assault and battery"is • an English legal term forphysical harm or violence.archbishop (See "titles".) Form
of address: Your Grace. Compli-mentary close: Yours faithfully.
amparo Underline (italics). See"habeas corpus".
anaesthetic
analyse, analysis
In a paragraph:"The worldwide movement
that works impartially for therelease of prisoners of conscience:
asylum Place of refuge or safety.To seek political asylum meansto ask for admission to anothercountry in order to obtain refugefrom political persecution.
anarchism, anarchy To avoid mis-interpretation, use these words intheir strict philosophical senseonly, referring to the politicalmovement advocating abolitionof the state.
arrest, arrested Arrest is a formalprocedure (with or withoutwarrant). Do not use this termautomatically in all cases ofpeople being taken into police ormilitary custody. If in doubtabout the procedure followed,
attorney If a lawyer, use"lawyer"; otherwise, if strictlynecessary, use "attorney-at-law".
12 13
attorney general authorization
If "district attorney" or "stateattorney", use full title.
attorney general (See "titles".)Plural: attorneys general. Formof address: Sir, Madam. Compli-mentary close: Yours faithfully.
. authorization From someone forsomething; someone is authorized
by someone else to do something.passive: "He received author-ization from the governmentfor his visit."active: "The governmentauthorized his visit." bad Avoid this word. If prison
conditions are "bad", indicatethe known or reported effects ofthe conditions upon prisoners orthe specific violation of the UNStandard Minimum Rules for theTreatment of Prisoners. If con-ditions cause great suffering theymay be "appalling", "atrocious","inhuman", "grim".
barbaric To avoid misinterpret-ation, do not use this word.
Belgium There are two branchesof the Belgian Section of AI:"Belgian Section (francophone)"and "Belgian Section (Flemishbranch)".
believers Use "religiousbelievers".
"Burr, G.L., Narrative of theWitchcraft Cases, Barnes andNoble, New York, 1959, pp.125-130."
"Dean, John P., and Rosen,Alex, A Manual of IntergroupRelations, University ofChicago Press, Chicago, 1955."
"Salisbury, Harrison E., "Nowit's China's cultural thaw" inthe New York Times Magazine,New York, 4 December 1977."
"International Statistics Insti-tute, Proceedings of ihe 34thSession, Ottawa 1963, Univer-sity of Toronto Press, Toronto,1964."
"Royal Commission on thePress, 1961-2, Cmnd. 1811
(1962), HMSO, London, 1962,table 7, p. 173."
benefit, benefited
bias, biased
bishop Form of address: MyLord B ishop. Complimentaryclose: Yours faithfully.
bibliography All entries in a text,in footnotes or bibliographiesshould follow this general form.author's family name, author'sinitials or given or • forename,
"title of article", Book Title,publisher, city, year, pages.
black(s) Do not capitalize,except in titles such as "BlackMuslim".
bona fide Underline (italics):but where possible use "genuine".
14 15
books budget
books Underline (italics) allbook titles (see "titles").
break in (v), break-in (n)
brackets Use square brackets forinserts or editorial commentswithin quoted matter only.
"The President said, 'Thisallegation [made by the UnitedNations] is unfounded'."
brutalize Meaning: to makebrutal, not to treat brutally.
budget, budgeted
cabinet Do not capitalize.
cadre Do not underline (noitalics).
call-up, called up Hyphenate theorder for compulsory militaryservice. But:
"He was called up in 1979."
calorie The singular of"calories". A calorie is a measureof heat and energy.
titles and small letters for generalreferences.
right: "the Government ofAfghanistan", "the CommunistParty of Malta"; "the FrenchSection of Amnesty Inter-national"; "Mexico City, D.F."but "the city of Chicago";"the Cayman Islands" but"the island of Cyprus".wrong: "the (G)overnmentreplied to the criticism"; "the(P)olice arrested 200 suspected(C)ommunists"; "all (N)ational(S)ections are invited toattend"; "she was adopted asa (P)risoner of (C)onscience";"the law discriminates against(B)lacks".
Canada There are two branchesin the Canadian Section of AI:"Amnesty International Canada(English-speaking)" and "Amnis-tie Internationale Canada(francophone)".
capital punishment Al uses theterm "the death penalty". Use"capital punishment" only intexts intended for the UnitedNations, which uses the term"capital punishment" (see "deathpenalty").
Capitalize titles before namesand when they refer to specificpeople and posts (see "titles").Laws: see "article" and "law".Do not capitalize "preface","introduction", "page", "foot-note", "section", when usingthese words in a sentence (see"chapter").
capital letters People tend to usetoo many capital letters, treatingmore words than necessary asproper nouns. If in doubt, usecapital letters for specific formal
French: Only capitalize thefirst word of a French title (unlessthe original title uses more capitalletters as in Le Monde, Le Figaro):
16 17
Caribbean churchesChristian name comma
"Confederation generale dutravail.""Unite francoplione"."les Nations unies" (except indocuments intended for theUnited Nations: les NationsUnies).
Chapter 2)", but "In laterchapters".
or "forename" to distinguishfrom "family name" or "sur-name".
character Often unnecessary:"Acts of an aggressive charac-ter". Instead: ". . . aggressiveacts".
Caribbean
churches Not a synonym for"places of worship". Use "placesof worship" in general and "syna-gogues", "mosques", "temples","chapels", "churches" asappropriate.
case Often unnecessary:"In many cases, the cells werepoorly ventilated." Instead:"Many cells were poorly ven-tilated."See "take up".
case-by-case Hyphenate whenused as a compound adjective:
. on a case-by-case basis".
charge Do not confuse with anaccusation:
"He was charged with dissemi-nating hostile propaganda"(legal term), but "he wasaccused of secretly meetingpublishers of an undergroundnewspaper."
In legally correct usage, one is"convicted on a charge ofrobbery and sentenced to a termof imprisonment"not "sentencedon a charge of robbery".
citizen A citizen is a person whohas acquired the civil rights of anation either by birth or natural-ization. Use "resident" in refer-ring to inhabitants of cities andprovinces. "Subject" is usedwhen the state is headed by amonarch. "National" is appliedto a person residing away fromthe country of which she or heis a citizen.
case sheet
case work
cell-block
cell-mate
centre
CO Conscientious objector.Always use full term on firstreference.
chargé d'affaires (See "titles".)Do not underline. Form ofaddress: Your Excellency. Com-plimentary close: Respectfullyand sincerely yours, or Pleaseaccept, Your Excellency, theassurance of my highest consider-ation.
(They rank below envoys-extraordinary in diplomaticcircles, but the same rules apply.)
co-group Coordination group.Always use full term on firstreference.
chairperson Give people the titlethey hold:
"Chairman of the Commissionon Human Rights".
Al has a "Chairperson" and"Vice-chairperson" of the Inter-national Executive Committee(see "non-sexist language").
comma I. A comma should beused only if it makes the mean-ing clearer.
A comma after a phrase at thebeginning of a sentence is notnecessary unless it is intended toprevent confusion:
"In October 1979 the trialopened.""When he called, the Ministerof Labour promised that thelaw would be repealed."(Comma avoids confusion.)
The clauses of a compoundsentence do not need to beseparated by a comma:especiallyif the clauses are short:
"He is a member of the bannedNepali Congress Party and hisbrother has been detainedwithout trial.""Her mother warned her aboutthe police but she entered thefactory next morning asusual."
In a series a comma is notneeded before "and" unless itis essential for clarity:
"Priests, lawyers and tradeunionists were among thetargets of the anti-subversioncampaign.""Arrests, imprisonment, andconfinement in psychiatrichospitals have • becomecommon."
cheque
collective nouns Use singularverb:
"The United Nations (or theIEC, the 1ACHR, the govern-ment) has decided ..."
child (See "age" .)
chapter Capitalize in "(see
S. If one or more items in theseries contain commas, semi-colons may be required betweenthe parts:
Christian name Do not use thisterm. Instead, use "given name"
colonel (See "titles".) Form ofaddress: Sir, Madam, YourExcellency (if head of govern-ment). Complimentary close:Yours sincerely.
18 19
comma comma commerce confession
"Six detectives, four from thefederal bureau; an inspectorbrought in from the state head-quarters who was later to leadthe investigation; and a homi-cide squad, including a forensicexpert, arrived at the prison."
in English.protested against the invasionof the campus."
13. Write a phrase or numberthat makes the preceding itemmore specific as follows:
"The President declared theprovisions of Article IV,section 15, of the constitutionsuspended.""This is specified on page 43,line 20.""Postal routes were estab-lished, running from StJoseph, Missouri, and Atchi-son, Kansas, over the OregonTrail."
14. Separate two unrelatednumbers coming one after theother:
"In 1977, 29,000 prisonerswere due to be released."or rephrase: "In 1977 thegovernment announced that29,000 prisoners would bereleased."
communist Capitalize only whenreferring to a political party,otherwise: "communist ideol-ogy". But "Marxist", "Maoist","Leninist", "Trotskyist" becausethese words include actual indi-viduals' personal names.6. Whether or not to use a comma
preceding relative clauses oftendepends on the use of "that" or"which". If "that" and "Which"are used correctly, using a commais usually a problem only with"which" clauses:
"He was greatly disturbed bythe letter, which he receivedthis morning." (This clausegives incidental informationabout one of several lettershe may have received thismorning.)
"He was greally disturbed bythe letter that he received thismorning." (Here he receivedone letter and it disturbed him.Note that in this case the"that" may be omitted: ". . .the letter he received . . .".)
compared with Not "as com-pared with".
complain, complaint Both takethe preposition "about", not"against".
comprise Meaning: to contain,embrace:
"The state comprises 16countries."
Do not use "is comprised of".
commence It is simpler to say"begin".
concern "Al is concerned aboutreports of torture."
Avoid excessive use of "con-cerned". Sometimes AI mightbe "disquieted", "disturbed" oreven "worried". AI may also"question" certain matters.
commit, commitmentPut words in apposition
between commas:"He was replaced by a newofficer, Lieutenant-ColonelOrd6fiez, and arrested oncharges of corruption."
An appositive that cannot beomitted without robbing the sen-tence of meaning should not beput between commas:
concerning Can usually beexpressed more simply by"about".
common law prisoners Avoidusing this term unless referringto those sentenced specificallyunder common law or droitcommun. Otherwise use:"ordinary criminal prisoners" torefer to non-political prisoners(see "non-political prisoners").
concrete If you mean "specific",use "specific". But remember itmay be unnecessary. "Definite","real" or "actual" can often beused instead.
wrong: "The Greek philos-ophers, Leucippus, Democritusand Epicurus, advanced adoctrine . . ." (This impliesthere were no other Greekphilosophers.)right: "The Greek philosophersLeucippus, Democritus andEpicurus advanced a doc-trine . .."wrong: "The early-19th cen-tury American publisher,Robert Bonner, laid down aset of rules .. ." (This conveysthe impression that RobertBonner was the one and onlypublisher of the early-19thcentury.)right: "The early-19th centuryAmerican publisher RobertBonner laid down a set ofrules . . ."
Always use a comma after anadverbial clause introduced by"if", "although" and "because".
Always use a comma after"however", "for example","nonetheless", "nevertheless".
Use a comma before an itemthat belongs equally to two ormore phrases but is expressedonly after the last:
"He was aware of, but did notconcern himself about, theproblem."
I 2. Write phrases indicating atitle or position following aperson's name as follows:
"Francesca de Silva, Dean ofthe College of Liberal Arts, confession Do not describe acommunique No accent needed
20 21
connection currentlycross-examinecriticize
statement as a "false confession"unless this has been determinedby a court. If the validity of aconfession is in doubt, usequotation marks.
"He was forced to 'confess'.He later retracted his 'con-fession'."
Confessions are "extracted","obtained" or "elicited" fromprisoners, not "forced" fromthem.
cross-examineco-opt, co-optioncoordinate
cults Do not use when referringto religious groups such asSeventh-Day Adventists orJehovah's Witnesses. Use "sects"or "denominations" instead.
Council of Europe Use full name,capitalized, on first reference."The council" is acceptableafterwards.
than symbols as appropriate:"3,000 Turkish lira". Put USdollar and pound sterling equiv-alents in brackets. No spacebetween symbol and digits:"US $15", "V.50". Do notunderline (no italics).
currency Indicate all foreigncurrencies, using words rather
currently Can usually be ex-pressed more simply by "now".
connection Not "connexion".
counsel May be used as a syn-onym for "lawyer"—usually"legal counsel". Although"counsel" also means "advice",use "legal advice" in this sense.
consensus The result of commonconsent.
counter-revolutionary
constitution Capitalize only ifgiving full title.
country-by-country Hyphenatewhen used as a compoundadjective.
consul (See "titles".) Form ofaddress: Sir, Madam. Compli-mentary close: Yours faithfully.
coup d'etat Coup is sufficient.Do not underline (italics); "coupd'Etat" in French.
continually, continuously Thereis no break in something thathappens continuously:
"She was continuously inter-rogated for three days".
Something that happens con-tinually may be interruptedfrom time to time:
"The school was continuallybeing visited by the localpolice."
court-martial Plural: courts-martial.
courthouse, courtroom
criminal act It is simpler to say"crime" or "offence".
•
criminal code Do not capitalizeunless giving full formal title.
"She was charged under Article71 of the criminal code."
convict "She was convictedof treason", not "for".
criterion Singular. Plural:criteria.
cooperate criticize, criticism
22 23
decades direct
decades "the 1980s", the mid-1970s", not "the 1960's" (see"dates").
support six dependants.""The verdict is dependent onthe deliberation of the jury."
decentralize, decentralization deplore Slightly less strong than"denounce".
decision-making (adj)
dash In typing, indicate a dash—if you use dashes—by twohyphens.
derogate "No state can derogatefrom this obligation."from day to day."
daytimedespite the fact that Can usuallybe expressed more simply by"although".data Plural of "datum": use
plural verb.de facto Underline (italics).Normally use "in fact".
decree An order given by anauthority and having the forceof law. Do not use as synonymfor "directive". A decree is"promulgated" or "issued"; itis not "passed".
dates Use this form only:"2 September 1981".
Never abbreviate month, neveruse ordinal numbers such as2nd, never shorten year to '81,never insert commas.
Several years: use this formonly:
"The government was in powerfrom 1968 to 1970. During1968 and 1969 it did not useits constitutional power todetain individuals withouttrial."Never use "from 1968-1970",or "from 1968-70", or"during 1968-69" (see"decad es" ) .Use this form, "1979/80",
only when referring to Alfinancial years or periods coveredby reports.
deep-seatedde jure Underline (italics).Normally use "according to thelaw".
defence
death penalty "The death penaltyis an extreme case of cruel,inhuman and degrading punish-ment."
Amnesty International'sopposition to the death penaltyincludes all capital sentencespassed and carried out by lawand extends to "disappearances",extrajudicial executions andpolitical murders.
"Program for the abolition ofthe death penalty" not"campaign".
detainee, detained If possible, bespecific about an individual's legalstatus (see "apprehend ', "arrest","priso ner").
A "detainee" is anyone heldunder administrative detentionprocedures.
The terms "detainee' and"detained" may be used also ina general sense when referring toany or all of those apprehendedor arrested, those committed toprison for pre-trial detention,those serving a term of im-prisonment or those held underadministrative detention pro-cedures (see "prisoner").
defendant In some legal systemsthe term "the defendant", is onlyapplied to a person being sued(by a "plaintiff') in a civil action.However, in other legal systems,the term is used also to mean"the accused" (see "accused").Both terms are acceptable in AIusage, but in legal systemsdistinguishing between "thedefendant" and "the accused"observe this difference con-sistently.
diarrhoea
death sentence A death sentenceis not "executed"; it is "carriedout".
definitive Not a synonym fordefinite. It means "final","d ecisive", "unconditional","most authoritative".
day-to-day Hyphenate whenused as compound adjective:
"It was a day-to-day arrange-ment." But: "This went on
different Usually different from.For correct use of than, seeOxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary of Current English.
"death squad" Always explainthis term on first reference anduse in quotation marks.
dependant, dependent A "depen-dant" is a person. "Dependent"is an adjective:
"The mother was left alone to.
direct, directly Direct meansstraight. Directly meansimmediately.
24 25
directive due to
directive A general or detailedinstruction to guide staff in theirwork. Not a synonym for"decree".
"disappeared", "d isappearance"Only use "disappeared" (alwaysin quotation marks) for Al'sspecial usage. Otherwise, try"vanish" or a phrase includingthe word "missing".
ECOSOC Economic and SocialCouncil (of the United Nations).
disease Do not capitalize, unlessthe term for the disease has aperson's name:
"Parkinson's disease", but"arthritis".
entitle Use "entitle" to meana right to have or do some-thing.
"Every prisoner is entitled toreceive monthly visits."
Avoid unnecessary use as in:"Her book entitled Life amongthe Aztecs" (delete "entitled"and use comma).
EEC European Economic Com-munity.
Words of two syllables ofwhich one is a single vowelshould not be divided ("around","over).
A final syllable of two lettersshould not be carried over("wanted", "travel").
When the final consonant of averb is doubled, the second con-sonant belongs with the lettersfollowing it ("occur-ring","regret-ted", ilut "pull-ing").
Follow the divisions indicatedin the Oxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary of Current English.
e.g. Avoid. Instead use "forexample", or "for instance".
disinterested Not a synonym for"uninterested". A "disinterested"party is completely unbiased byany personal interest in the case.
doctor Use "doctor" for medicaldoctors. Specify in all othercases, such as doctors of music.
double-adopted, double-adoptionHyphenate.
diverge Not a synonym for"differ". If views "diverge", theycannot be reconciled.
equally Avoid using "equally"to mean "also":
wrong: "Equally, we wantedto inform you that .. ."right: "We also wanted toinform you that . . ."
electric shock Do not use"electric shock treatment" whenreferring to torture. Instead use:
"She was tortured with electricshocks", or"She was given electricshocks".drugs Be specific if possible. If
the name of the drug is unknown,describe its reported effect.General terms. "medicine" or"narcotics".
ellipsis See "quotation marks".
division of words (at the end of aline)1. Words of one syllable shouldnot be divided ("cracked","through").
etc No full stop. Avoid endingsentences with "etc". Re-draftusing "such as" before a list ofitems.
due to Avoid. Usually "due to"can be replaced by "because oP',"caused by" or "owing to".
embassy Do not capitalize unlessusing formal title or with title ofcountry:
"They visited the embassy"but "They visited the SwedishEmbassy".
emigre Do not underline (italics).No accents in English.
en masse Do not underline (noitalics).
European Commission on HumanRights Use full term, capitalized,on first reference. "The com-mission" is acceptable afterwards.Headquarters in Strasbourg. Eachof its members represents one ofthe states that are parties to theEuropean Convention on HumanRights.
en route Do not underline (noitalics).
every body, everybody "Everybody" means "each body";
2726
every day eye-witness
"everybody" means "everyone". expel, expelled
every day, everyday "Every day"means "each day"; "everyday"means "ordinary".
extrajudicial Do not hyphenate.Use instead of "extra-legal".Meaning: beyond the authorityof a court.
every one, everyone 'Every one"means "each one"; "everyone"means "all the people".
eye-witness
exercise
FAO Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UnitedNations. Headquarters in Rome.
feed-back Technical word."Response" is better in everydayuse.
for inclusion at the end of thedocument or chapter. For foot-notes referring to documents, usethe style given under the "biblio-graphy" entry.
for Not "for a period or.
fewer Do not confuse with less:"There were fewer soldiersthan civilians"; "There wasleSes space in his cell than inhers."
forbid Generally preferable to"prohibit from":
"They were forbidden to eat"is neater than "They wereprohibited from eating".
field marshal (See "titles".)Forrn of address: Sir, Madam,Your Excellency (if head ofgovernment). Complimentaryclose: Yours faithfully.
forced labourwrong: "The prisoner workedat forced labour."right: "The prisoner did forcedlabour."
finalize
firing-squad
first-hand
focus, focused
forcible feeding Feeding a personagainst his or her will (this maybe done via the mouth, nose orvascular system). Not a synonymfor "force feeding" (a form offattening animals).
"The hunger-striking prisonerswere forcibly fed."
footnotes (See "bibliography".)Place the footnote number at theend of the sentence just abovethe line. Type all footnotes forthe document (or chapter in along report) on a separate page
foreign national Use instead of"foreigner". (See "citizen".)
foreign words Use the originalspelling for foreign words and
28 29
former fund-raising
"The KGB (Committee ofState Security) seized severalvolumes of samizdat (uncen-sored literature) in the raid.""The newspaper Ech-Chaab(The People) was banned."
former, latter Use only whenthere are two items. If morethan two items use "first" or"last".
gendarmerie Underline (italics).
forum Singular. Plural: forums.
general (See "titles".) Form ofaddress: Sir, Madam, Your Excel-lency (if head of government).Complimentary close: Yoursfaithfully.
ordered an inquiry."but:
"The government ordered aninquiry.""Julius Nyerere's governmentordered an inquiry.""Amnesty International urgedthe government to conduct aninquiry."
As a collective noun "govern-ment" is singular:
"The government has decidedto repeal the Internal SecurityAct."
fractions Spell out all simplefractions:
"one half', "seven sixteenths".Spell out all compound fractionsbelow 10:
"one and three eighths", "nineand a half".
For all compound fractions above10, use figures:
names or the accepted Englishtransliteration. Names of citiesand countries are anglicized.Always underline (italics) foreignwords, phrases and titles exceptfor those that have entered intocommon English usage, such ascoup and chargé d'affaires.
lf the title of an institution orlaw is being quoted, the initialsshould be placed in bracketsimmediately afterwards (if theinitials are to be used later inthe text). Follow this by theEnglish translation betweencommas.
For single words, acronyms orsingle phrases put the Englishtranslation or explanation inbrackets.
Never assume that all yourreaders understand the foreignterms that you use regularly.Always take the trouble to givea correct, simple translation.
Never leave out the originalterm: it is essential for trans-lators and for specialist readers.
"He was the Secretary Generalof the Union générale destravailleurs tunisiens (UGTT),the General Union of TunisianWorkers, from 1976 to 1979.""She was taken, along with herfour children, to the Destaca-mento de Operavoes de Investi-gacoes (DOH, the Departmentof Investigation, in Sao Paulo."The 'death squads' concen-trate on the marginais(vagrants)."
Germany "Federal Republic ofGermany (FRG)" on first refer-ence; "FRG" afterwards. "FRGSection of Al" not "GermanSection".
"German Democratic Republic(GDR)" on first reference;"GDR" afterwards.it I 11/2”, (A 153491.
See "numbers".GMT Greenwich Mean Time (see"time").French-speaking Hyphenate.
"Francophone" is preferable andcan be used in English withoutitalics or underlining. Do notcapitalize "francophone", exceptat the start of a sentence.
grassroots One word.
guillotine
guerrilla Two r's.government Refer to all govern-ments as such, not as "regimes".Only capitalize when accom-panied by the name of a country:
"The Government of Tanzaniaordered an inquiry.""The Tanzanian Government
guidelines Over-used."Advice" or "instructions" canoften be substituted.
FRG See "Germany".
fulfil, fulfilment, fulfilling
full-scale
full-time
fund-raising
gun battle Do not hyphenate.
30 31
hopefully hospitalize
hopefully Not a synonym for "itis hoped that" or "I hope that".It means "with hope" or "full ofhope".
hunger-strike One "goes on"hunger-strike.
house arrest Do not hyphenate.hyphens Current newspaper andpublishing usage is often confusedand inconsistent. Hyphens shouldbe used for clarity, not justbecause a combination of wordsis familiar. Use them to joinwords that combine to form acompound adjective:
"the two-and-a-half-year-oldchild", but"the child is two and a halfyears old";"large-scale arrests", but arrestson a large scale".
habeas corpus Underline (italics).A legal procedure whereby theindividual, or someone acting onhis or her behalf, tests before acourt the legality of that individ-ual's detention. The term is usedin English law, in other countriesapplying English law and in someLatin American countries wherethe similar remedy of amparomay also be available.
hang, hanged, hung You can"hang" a prisoner or yourself ora picture. But (out of these three)only a picture can be "hung".Ot herwise:
"The government announcedthat five prisoners had beenhanged.""The prisoner hanged herselfin her cell."
human rights Do not capitalizeexcept in titles such as UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights.
state See "titles" for rules oncapitalization.
headings Few texts require morethan four levels of headings: amain heading and three sub-headings. Type them as follows:
CENTRE CHAPTER HEADING
Princi al Subheadin
Human Rights Committee Onfirst reference always use thefollowing formula.
"The Human Rights Corn-mittee, set up under theInternational Covenan t on Civiland Political Rights, . . ."."The committee" is acceptable
afterwards. Do not use "UN"before the title and do not con-fuse with the United NationsCommission on Human Rights.
humane, humanitarian Humanemeans kind or merciful. Humani-tarian means benevolent, seekingthe welfare of all human beingsby reducing suffering, reforminglaws about punishment.
Adverbs do not usually requirehyphens to modify verbs andadjectives:
"internationally recognized",'politically related", "sexually
humiliating".
hospitalize Avoid. Instead use"send to hospital", "transfer tohospital".
haemorrhage
harass, harassment
This is the first level of subheading.It should be flush with the leftmargin with the text beginning oneline space below it. Capitalize allnouns and verbs. Underline. Do notindent first paragraph.
Seconda subheadin . This is thesecond level of subheading. It shouldbe flush with the left margin.Capitalize only the first word.Underline. Put full stop at end.Start text without going to a new line.
Minor subheadin . This is thethird level of subheading. Usuallythis is used for items in a series.Indent the text five spaces.Capitalize only the first word.Underline. Put full stop at end.Start text without going to newline.
he When referring to both sexesuse "they". Where the singular isnecessary use "he or she" (see"non-sexist language").
high-level
hijack
head of government, head ofHolland Use "the Netherlands"instead.
32 33
imply indirect speech
Organisation. Headquarters inGeneva.Note spelling: "organisation" inthis title.
In terms of Can usually be ex-pressed more simply by "about"or "to".
In view of the fact that Canusually be expressed more simplyby "since".
IACHR Inter-American Com-mission on Human Rights of theOrganization of American States.Headquarters in New York City.
imply Not a synonym for"infer". Something implied issomething suggested or indicatedbut not expressed (see "infer"). include Use "include" for an
incomplete list, "comprise" for awhole list (see "comprise).
ibid Underline (italics). Use onlyin footnotes and bibliographies.
incommunicado Do not under-line (no italics).
improvise
in absentia Underline (italics).
in camera Underline (italics).
IEC International ExecutiveCommittee of Amnesty Inter-national: the nine-member bodyelected by the InternationalCouncil to carry out its decisionsand supervise the work of theInternational Secretariat. Use fullterm on first reference. indent Indent all new paragraphs
five spaces but not the first in achapter (see "headings").
ICJ a) International Court ofJustice. Its seat is in The Hague.The court does not hear casesinvolving individual violations ofhuman rights.b) International Commission ofJurists. This is a non-govern-mental organization withheadquarters in Geneva.
independent
IGO Intergovernmental Organiz-ation such as the United Nations,Council of Europe, Organizationof African Unity.
in case Do not use as synonymfor "ir'.
wrong: "In case the govern-ment issues a new law, we willreact to it then."
ICM International Council ofAmnesty International ("M" isfor meeting, but not part of thetitle). Use "International Council"in all EXTERNAL documents.
"The 12th InternationalCouncil decided to . ..""The 12th InternationalCouncil, meeting at Leuven in1979, decided . .."
in connection with Can usuallybe expressed more simply by"about" or "on".
"We sought advice (in con-nection with) points of law".
ill Ill-health: be as specific aspossible or use suitable formul-ation such as:
"Her health is believed to havedeteriorated during her sevenmonths in detention."
ill- advised, ill- equippedin order to Can usually beexpressed more simply by "to".
indirect speech Indirect speechis used in minutes of meetings andin reporting the statements ofother speakers or writers. Thechange from direct to indirectspeech requires changes of verbtenses and other parts of theoriginal statement or text. Beconsistent.
ICRC International Committeeof the Red Cross. Headquartersin Geneva.
in regard to, in respect of Canusually be expressed more simplyby "about" , "or' or "on".
"They passed a resolution (inrespect of/in regard to) thecrisis."
ill- treatment As far as possible,use "ill-treatment" instead of"maltreatment". Do not alternatebetween these words in the sametext or when writing in differenttexts about the same incident orcountry.
illegality inasmuch as Two words.
i.e. Avoid. Instead use "that is".
34
verbs: Present tense becomespast tense; continuous present be-comes continuous past (even ifthe facts reported are still true):
"All the states are representedin the working group.""He said that all the states wererepresented in the workinggroup.""The figures show that thenumber of arrests is droppinginsofar as Two words.. ILO International Labour
35
infer it 'sinstanceinstruments
gradually.""The figures showed that thenumber of arrests was droppinggradually."
Past tense becomes pluperfect:"In all the countries studied,imports grew faster thanexports.""It was stated that in all thecountries studied imports hadgrown faster than exports."
Future tense (shall, will) be-comes secondary future (should,would); future perfect becomessecondary future perfect:
"The cost will be increasingannually.""The cost would be increasingannually, the committeerealized.""By 1980 the number willhave doubled.""He said that by 1980 thenumber would have doubled."
Headquarters in Paris.something deduced from evidenceat hand (see "imply").
infinitives An infinitive is splitwhen an adverb is placed between"to" and the rest of the infinitive.An infinitive may be split ifnecessary to avoid confusion inthe sentence:
"It failed to completely silencethe opposition."
inquire, inquiry Not enquire,enquiry.
Instance "or notin, ,ssvtial enrcet
"In one instance of prisonersbeing held after expiry oftheir sentence, a mother waskept in detention for sixyears." inter alit: Underline (italics). As
far as possible use "among otherthings".intercede For a defendant; with
a judge.invest "We invested our time
in and money in this effort.""The President is invested
with great power."inhuman, inhumane Use "in-human" to describe such thingsas cruel acts or appalling prisonconditions. Use "inhumane" toindicate lack of tenderness or pityon the part of someone (see"humane, humanitarian").
intergovernmental One wordUN usage.
interdepartmental One word.IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union,a non-governmental organizationcomprising representatives ofnational parliaments. Head-quarters in Geneva.
International Bill of HumanRights The International Bill ofHuman Rights comprises theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights; the International Coven-ant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights; the InternationalCovenant on Civil and PoliticalRights; the Optional Protocol tothe last.
IS The International Secretariatof Amnesty International (see"International Secretariat").
Adverbs andchange in indirect
Direct speechhere
inmate Use occasionally as asubstitute for "prisoner" toavoid the prisoner/prisonawkwardness:
"The inmates of HollowayPrison were kept in theircells" is better than:"The prisoners in HollowayPrison were imprisoned intheir cells".
nowinput Technical word. "Con-tribution" is better in everydayuse.
issued, issued with Issue some-thing to somebody; issuesomebody with something.
"The army issued tear-gas tothe police.""The prisoners were not issuedwith warm clothing despite thefreezing temperature."
International Secretariat Capital-ize. Always use full name inEXTERNAL documents. Other-wise, use full name on firstreference, followed by (IS).Afterwards use "IS".present
todayinternationally agreed
tomorrowyesterday
its The possessive case of "it"."The cabinet reaffirmed itsprevious decision."
adjectives alsospeech:
Indirect speechtherethen, at thattimeexistingthat day, atthat timethe next daythe previousday it's It is. As a contraction, it
should not be used except inquoted matter.
infer Not a synonym for"imply". Something inferred is
internationally recognized
Interpol Acceptable in allreferences to InternationalCriminal Police Organization,
instruments The term "inter-national legal instruments" isused for international standards,such as UN declarations, whichare not binding, and for inter-national laws and treaties, suchas covenants, that are binding.
36 37
jail Do not use "gaol".
judge Different judges areaddressed differently in differentjurisdictions. Note: it is notnormal for Al to address itselfdirectly to judges about casesbefore them. If in doubt, consultthe Legal Office.
labourall uses, including that in Britishlegal practice. A judgment is"given", 'passed" or "pro-nounced".
cover all "attorneys", "barristers"and "solicitors".
languages Capitalize as propernames: Aramaic, English.
"The French-language editionof the Amnesty InternationalNewsletter."
learned Past participle of verb"to learn"; not "learnt".
junta Do not capitalize; under-line (italics).
judgment This spelling covers
jurist A jurist is any personexpert in law, not necessarily ajudge.
left wing (n), left-winger (n), le ft-wing (adj), The Left Wherepossible, use a more precisedescription of the politicalphilosophy.
large-scale (adj) Also try using"extensive", "wide-ranging","numerous". Never use 'wide-scale".
less See "fewer".Latin phrases In general avoidLatin phrases if there is anEnglish equivalent.
latter See "former, latter".
kilometre Abbreviation:(see "measures").
letters See page 4 for layout of asample letter. Note:I Always put the initials of theauthor, typist and (if differentfrom the author) the signer inthe upper left-hand corner.
A "Dear Sir/Madam" letterends: "Yours faithfully".
A "Dear Inge Genetke" letterends: "Yours sincerely".km kilogram Abbreviation: kg
(see "measures").
law Capitalize in full title oflegislation:
"Law on the Prevention ofTerrorism" but"According to the law, allcitizens must register withthe police."Laws are "passed", "adopted"
and "promulgated". They are"repealed". They are "broken","infringed", "contravened","breached" and "violated".
lawyer Whenever possible use"lawyer" as a general term to
liaison, liaise
liberalization
likewise Avoid. Use "similarly".
lingua franca Underline ( it al ic s) .
located Often not needed. Omit38
39
long-rangelong-term
"located" in"The camp was (located) inSu riwon."
Also true for "situated". Ifnecessary, use "situated" ratherthan "located".
long-range (adj)
long-term (adj) Hyphenate theadjective; but: "in the longterrn".
machine-gun, machine-gunned Amachine-gun is mounted andstationary. A submachine-gun issmaller, not mounted and usually •fired from the shoulder or thehip.
"numerous", "sweeping", "wide-spread", "overwhelm ing","huge".
maltreatment Avoid. Use "ill-treatment" instead.
manoeuvre
massive Over-used. Possible alter-natives, depending on context:
measures Use the metric system;centigrade for temperatures (seeconversion table below).
Isolated references to units ofweight or measure should not beabbreviated:
"The villages were four kilo-metres apart."
CONVERSION INTO METRIC SYSTEMWhen you know: Multiply by:inches 2.54feet 0.3yards 0.9miles 1.6sq feet 0.09sq yards 0.8sq miles 2.6ounces 28.00pounds 0.45fluid ounces 30.00pints (British) 0.56quarts (British) 1.35gallons (British) 4.54cubic feet 0.03tons 0.9
To find:centimetres (cm)metres (m)metreskilometres (km)sq metressq metressq kilometresgrams (g)kilograms (kg)millilitres (m1)litres (1)litreslitrescubic metrestonnes (metric tons)
t 32 and multiply by 9/5. To5/9 and add 32. Form: 80°C
To convert Fahrenheit to centigrade subtracconvert centigrade to Fahrenheit multiply by(no full stop).
40 41
mediaMuslim
media Do not use as short formfor "news media"
medium Singular. Plural: media.
meet Not "meet with" or "meettoge ther".
momentarily Means lasting foronly a moment.
monarchs Form of address: YourMajesty. Complimentary close:Please accept, Your Majesty, theassurance of my most highconsideration.
member of parliament Use fullterm. Do not capitalize. Do notuse MP.
monitor Beware of over-using.Alternatives may be "observe","study", "follow", "watch".
member state Do not capitalize.Plural: member states.
middle-aged
mid Hyphenate: "mid-1960s".
wrong: "She could not eat norsleep."right: "She could not eat orsleep.""She could neither eat norsleep."
news conference Not "press con-ference".
news release Not "press release".midnight Do not put 12 in frontof it. Midnight is consideredpart of the day ending.
newspapers Underline title(italics): New York Times (see"titles").
military personnel If possiblespecify: "members of the armedforces", "soldiers", "sailors","members of the air force".
NGO Non-governmental organiz-ation. Plural: NGOs.
Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle(See "names".) Normally, exceptin letters or if the full name isnot known, give the individual'sfull name without "Mr", "Ms","Mlle", "Srta." and so forth.
In letters or if the full nameis not known, spell out"Monsieur", "Madame" and"Mademoiselle" on first referenceand on the envelope. Note: fullstop with "M.", but no full stopswith "Mme" and "Mlle".
military titles (See "titles".) SeeAppendix 9 of the OxfordAdvanced Learner's Dictionaryof Current English for correctspelling.
Names To ensure consistency inuse of names from differentcultures, give the full name bywhich he or she is known:
"Baljit Singh""Li Ching-sun""Thomas McKearney""Noemi Gianetti de Molfino"
Use the full name on everyreference. Do not use"Ms", "Mlle" or "Srta." and thefamily name.
In cases where the individualhas a title:
first reference: "Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi","United Nations SecretaryGeneral Dr Kurt Waldheim".
subsequent references: "PrimeMinister Gandhi","Dr Waldheim".
Monsignor Spell out on firstreference. Mgr is acceptablea ft e nv a rd s.
night-time
No. Use this abbreviation for"number", with a full stop, as in:"Emergency Regulation No. 3".
mission Do not capitalize eithera mission at the United Nations(the office that represents acountry) or an Amnesty Inter-national mission.
national section Do not capital-ize in general references:
"To all national sections" but"The Mexican Section".
months Always capitalize andspell out names of months (see"dates").
minister (See "titles".) Form ofaddress for government ministers:Your Excellency. Complimentaryclose: Respectfully and sincerelyyours.
no one
nobody
non-aligned nations
mobilizenon-political prisoners Whenreferring to such prisoners, inorder to distinguish them from
Muslim An adherent of Islam.Not "Moslem".
negotiate Not "negociate".
neither, nor "Nor" is oftenwrongly used instead of "or"after negative expressions:
4342
non-sexist languagenumbers
numbers numbers
political prisoners, it is acceptableto write: "ordinary criminalprisoners". If you are referring tothose held under droit comtnun,use the French term on firstreference and "common lawprisoners" afterwards.
4. The pronoun that stands for acountry is "it", not "she".
non-sexist language 1. Refer togroups, professions, officials andworkers with words that describetheir function or nature, nottheir sex:
"people", "humanity", not"men" or "mankind";"police officers", not "police-men" or "policewomen";"clergy" not "clergymen '';"laity" not "laymen";"representative" or "spokes-person", not "spokesman";"chairperson" not "chair-woman" or 'chairman";"trader", "merchant" "indus-trialist", "entrepreneur" not"businessman".
Do not use "he" to denote allpeople in a particular category.Either use the plural "they" or"he and she" throughout.
Be careful not to assume thatall members of a trade or pro-fession are either men or women.For instance both can be nurses,psychiatrists, builders, prosti-tutes, taxi-drivers and firefighters.Beware of assuming all judges,lawyers, government officials andmembers of the armed forcesare men.
of imprisonment."
"She was imprisoned for 25years'." (Do not use apos-trophe.)"lie was sentenced to a termof 15 years'." (Do not useapostrophe.)right: "He is serving a 25-yearsentence" or ". . . a sentenceof 25 years" or ". . . 25 years'imprisonment".
Do not say:. "She was sen-tenced to 25 years." Instead:"She was sentenced to a termof 25 years" or "she wassentenced to 25 years' im-prisonment" or "she received a25-year sentence".
relative sizes: (some, a few,many): see "size".
currency: use digits"£.1.25", "US $15".
prison sentences: follow therules for numbers. Below 10 spellout; 10 and above use figuresonly:
"She was sentenced to oneyear's imprisonment and 15months' exile."
Use hyphens only when com-bining words, or words andfigures, to form adjectives:
"She received a two-year sus-pended sentence. Her sisterreceived a 15-year sentence."
Use an apostrophe only in thefollowing way: "25 years im-prisonment"; "two months'exile"; "one week's detention".
wrong: "He is serving 10 years
non-violence, non-violent
non-conformist
northeast, northwest
numbers below 10 (includingfractions): spell out
"one", "nought/zero", "nine","four and a half', "threequarters" (no hyphens infractions if not used as anadjective).
10 and over (including frac-tions): figures only
"10", "82", "193/4.general large numbers: spell
out"a hundred", "a thousand".
specific large numbers: com-bine above rules
"2,000", "348,223,500".
ordinal numbers: combineabove rules
"first", "third", "18th cen-tury", "33rd session".Spell out all numbers at the
beginning of a sentence.
dimensions: use figures andabbreviations, with no spacebetween:
"The cell measures 5m by 3m."
numbers in series: use digits"No. 4", "page 4", "paragraph4", "Article 4".
4445
OAS Organization of AmericanStates. Headquarters in Washing-ton D.C.
"Choice" is oftenoptionpreferable.
paralyse penalties Penalties are "imposed"•ot "executed".
paramilitary One word.
OAU Organization of AfricanUnity. Headquarters in AddisAbaba.
occur, occurred, occurring
oral Use "oral" to refer to spokenwords:
"He gave an oral promise."Use "written" to refer to
words committed to paper."Verbal" refers to all words,written or spoken.
per Unless quoting other matter,use simple English instead. Not"per annum" but "each year" or"every year" or "a year";not "per diem" but "daily".But "per cent".
offence, offensive
pardon This term has a precisemeaning in English law. Consultthe Legal Office before using itand be very cautious about usingit as a synonym for terms inother legal systems.
per cent Two words. Do not use% except in tables.
on the spot No hyphens, exceptwhen used as adjectival com-pound (as in "an on-the-spotreport").
organization But InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO).
parliament Capitalize only whenreferring to a legislative body thatis actually called "Parliament". percentage One word.
ongoing Do not use. Instead use"continuing".
organs For collections of peopleuse words such as "bodies" or"organizations". "Police organs",for instance, is open to mis-interpretation.
person, people Where possible,use "individual" instead of"person". Use "people" insteadof "persons".
only Be careful to place "only"immediately before the word itqualifies.
right: "The announcement saidthat only criminal prisonerswould be released."wrong: 'The announcementonly said that criminalprisoners would be released."
parliamentarian Not a synonymfor a member of parliament or amember of a legislature. Aparliamentarian is a supporter ofthe parliamentary system.
Orthodox Do not use this wordon its own if referring to aparticular religious sect —" RussianOrthodox Church", "GreekOrthodox Church", "OrthodoxJews".
phenomenon Singular. Plural:phenomena.
outside Not "outside of".
party Do not capitalize in generalreference:
"After she joined the party."but "The Parties to the presentConvention" (actual text)"The Republican Party"(specific title).
plebiscite Not a synonym for"referendum". It means a voteof a people on an issue, in orderto determine public opinion.The result does not necessarilybecome law (see "referendum").
opt "Choose" is often preferable.
optimum "Best" is usuallypreferable.
policy-making (aclj)
over Avoid expressions such as:"Over 20 were detained". Use:"More than".
penal code Do not capitalizeunless giving full title:
"She was convicted underArticle 235 of the country'spenal code."
politically related
46 47
poor privilege punishment problematic
poor Avoid this word whenreferring to prison conditions(see "bad").
term in Scottish law: the jury'sdecision that the accused,although not necessarily inno-cent, cannot be found guilty.
possessive case Use Congress' notCongress's; James' not James's.
problematic Does not mean"problem-ridden" but doubtfulor uncertain:
"It is problematic whetherthe report will come out ontime."
poverty-stricken
practice, practise "Practice" isthe noun; "practise" is the verb.
authorities or otherwise deprivedof their liberty. The precisemeaning of the term is: anyone inprison as a result of having beenconvicted and sentenced to im-prisonment or held pending trial(see "detainee"). Use these terms,whenever possible, in theirprecise sense; be consistent ingeneral references.
prayer houses It is better touse "places of worship" (see"churches").
provide, prescribe "The lawprovides that the offence ispunishable by up to sixyears' imprisonment.""The law provides for up tosix years' imprisonment."'The law prescribes six years'imprisonment for thisoffence."
program This spelling is nowpreferred in UN usage, althoughexisting titles such as UnitedNations Development Programmemust be spelled in the old way.
presently Avoid. Does not mean"now" but "later". If you mean"now" use "now" or "atpresent".
prohibit, prohibited, prohibitionPeople are prohibited from doingsomething. There is a prohibitionagainst doing something (see"forb id").
principal, principle "Principal"means main or chief:
"She is the school principal.""Money is the principalproblem."
"Principle" means rule or ideal:"They fought for the principleof self-determination.""In principle, we agree." promulgate Announce officially
a new decree or law, either bypublic reading or publishing in agazette.
president (See "titles".) Form ofaddress: Your Excellency. Com-plimentary close: Please accept,Your Excellency, the assuranceof my most high consideration.
psychiatric Do not use "psy-chiatric abuse" when you mean"abuse of psychiatry". Theformer suggests abuse of apsychiatric kind. The lattermeans abuse of a particularbranch of medicine. Al'scomplaints tend to be about"abuse of psychiatry".
prison Capitalize only if part ofthe actual title:
"Kathmandu Central Prison".proof-read, proof-reading
prison sentences See "numbers".punishable Punishable "by"not "with".preventive, preventative Preven-
tive detention; preventativemedicine.
protest (v) Do not use "protestat" but "protest against" or"about"; the preposition mustbe included.
prime minister (See "titles".)Form of address: Dear PrimeMinister. Complimentary close:Respectfully and sincerely yours.
punishment Punishments are"inflicted' and "carried out",not "executed".proved "It was proved". Avoid
"proven". "Not proven" is a
prior to Use "before" if possible.
prisoner of conscience In general,do not put this term in quotationmarks. Never capitalize. Only usequotation marks if the text isdrawing deliberate attention tothe term:
"These are known as 'prisonersof conscience'."
See "adopted".
prisoner "Prisoner" may oftenbe used, particularly when des-cribing Al's mandate, to meananyone in the hands of the
Prisoners of Conscience WeekCapitalize.
privilege
48 49
questionnaire reconcile Reconcile "to" a con-dition; "with" a person.
radical If possible, use a moreprecise description of someone'spolitical views. Not a synonymfor "extremist". re-education Hyphenate. People
are "sent for" re-education, not"assigned" to it.
"Where we have concludedthat 'physical ill-treatment'took place, we are not makinga finding of 'brutality' on thepart of those who handledthese complainants. We con-sider that `brutality' is aninhuman or savage form ofcruelty. In the view of thosewho testified, 'it implies a dis-position to inflict suffering'."
If you are quoting more thanone paragraph (in which case thefull text will be indented) putquotation marks at the beginningof each paragraph and close thequotation at the end of the lastp aragraph .
Ellipsis: Use three dots . . .with a space between each . . . toindicate the omission of wordswithin a sentence.
Four dots—a full stop,followed by three dots—must beused to indicate the omission of(1) the last part of the quotedsentence, (2) the first part of thenext sentence, (3) a whole sen-tence or more.
radio Capitalize and use beforethe name to indicate an officialvoice of the government: "RadioMoscow".
quotation marks Use double in-verted commas for all quotationsexcept quotations within quot-ations. Put punctuation insidequotation marks only in directspeech or where the punctuationends a complete sentence:— "In Nicaragua," he said, "the
fight for justice is desperate."Seventeen individuals havebeen arrested on charges of"anti-Soviet agitation andpropaganda".
— The newspaper reported that50 prisoners "had been foundin cells in conditions describedby the prisoners as 'inhuman'.Only after intervention by theRed Cross were doctors per-mitted to enter the 'forbiddenarea'."
Quotations of more than twosentences or 100 words shouldbe indented. Indented quotationsshould also be enclosed in doubleinverted commas:— The committee reported that:
referendum Meaning: "the enact-ment of law by popular vote".Not a synonym for "plebiscite"(see "plebiscite"). Plural: refer-endums.
re(-) Unless "re" precedes "e",there is no hyphen normally. SeeOxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary of Current English foruse of hyphen with words begin-ning with "re".
refoulement Underline (italics).On first use always define: "theexpulsion or forcible return ofrefugees to those territorieswhere their life or freedomwould be threatened".
reaffirm
realize
reappeared
rearrest
reinstate
recant Give up an opinion orbelief; take back a statement asbeing false:
"Even under torture, she re-fused to recant."
recognize
refugee "A refugee is a personwho, owing to a well-foundedfear of being persecuted forreasons of race, religion, nation-ality, membership of a particularsocial group or political opinion,is outside the country of hisnationality and is unable or,owing to such fear, is unwillingto avail himself of the protectionof that country."
(Definition provided by theConvention relating to the Statusof Refugees.)
SO51
refute rural areasresolution retract
refute Means to disprove notdeny. To say something has beenrefuted means Al regards theoriginal statement as having beenobjectively proved false
right to exemption frommilitary service."
report Do not capitalize unlessin full title of document.
right wing (n), right-winger (n),right-wing(adj), The Right Wherepossible, use a more precisedescription of the politicalphilosophy.
accompanied by a serial number:"United Nations Resolution35 (XXX)".
Otherwise, do not capitalize.
regime Use only in precise senseof "system" as in "strict regimeprison". Not a synonym for "gov-ernment" or "administration".
rites Do not use this word todescribe religious ceremonies ingeneral.
retract Take back or withdraw astatement, offer or opinion:
"In court he retracted theconfession which he said hadbeen extracted from him undertorture."
roll-callregions Capitalize "Africa", "theAmericas", "Asia", "EasternEurope", "Western Europe", "theMiddle East".
Roman Catholic Church Use fullname, not "Catholic Church".Reuters Not Reuter.
revise, revision round-up (n), round up (v)relating to Can usually be ex-pressed more simply by "about". revoke A treaty or contract may
be "revoked" not a law.rural areas Use only if necessary;otherwise use "countryside".
religion Do not capitalize theword "religion". Capitalize refer-ences to religious orders or theirmembers:
"He is a member of the Societyof Jesus. He is a Jesuit."
Capitalize all proper names:"God"; "Allah"; "Hades";"the Roman Catholic Church";"Among those arrested are 16Buddhists."
Do not capitalize "church" as aninstitution:
"The church opposes therepression."
reported, reportedly Avoidexcessive use of "reportedly".Replace by "is reported" wherepossible:
"The evidence against themreportedly consisted solely oftheir own confession."Instead: 'The evidence againstthem is reported to consistsolely of their own confes-sions."
Be careful to place "reportedly",if you use it, in the correct place.Normally, "reportedly" shouldbe placed after the auxiliary verbin the past tense.
wrong: "He reportedly wasarrested."right: "He was reportedlyarrested." ("He is reported tohave been arrested" ispreferable.)
Do not say:"She reportedly died of bulletwounds" when you mean"She died, reportedly of bulletwounds."
renounce Declare formally thatone no longer is associated with;(for instance, a belief or group);consent formally to give up aright.
"They had renounced theirreligion and, thereby, their
reported speech See "indirectspeech".
rescind Legislation is not "re-scinded". This term is usuallyreserved for contract law.
resolution Capitalize only when
52 53
sentence state
sentence A court "passes" asentence "on" someone, not"against" them (see "prisonsentences").
otherwise: "a socialist form ofgovernment".
severe Over-used. "Strict","harsh", "rigorous" can often besubstitu ted .
some Do not use with specificfigures.
right: "Some 60 prisoners werereported to be in detention."wrong: "Some 62 youngpeople died during the night."
iadism Not a synonym for"cruelty" or "persecution". Itmeans "sexual perversion ex-hibiting itself in cruelty toothers".
short-livedSecretary General But "UnitedNations Secretary-General" (see"titles"). short - term (adj) Hyphenate the
adjective; hut "in the shortterm".
samizdat Underline (italics).Always define on first use.Meaning: writings published pri-vately without official approvalor censorship.
If you are using "some"because you are not certain ofan exact figure, round off thefigure to the next lower unitof 10.
shrine Not a synonym for a"place of worship". southeast, southwest
section, sector Use "sector" onlyin strict technical sense: "theprivate sector of industry". Other-wise: "a section of society";"residential section".
Southern Cone of South AmericaArgentina, Chile, Paraguay,Uruguay.
sanction Since this word hasseveral different meanings, wherepossible use the appropriatesynonym:
"permission" (n), "approval"(n), "penalty" (n), "agreeto (v).
[sic] Put in square bracketsinside quoted matter afteroddities in the original material.
sector See "section, sector".
sects See "cults".
seize Not"sieze". - speaking Hyphenate afterlanguage: "Portuguese-speakingcountries".
seasons Because the seasons aredifferent in the northern andsouthern hemispheres, do notuse them to indicate specificperiods of time. Use in generaldescriptions only :
"In winter the cells are un-heated."
Do not capitalize "spring","summer", "autumn", "winter".
specialize
spelled Past participle of verb"to spell"; not "spelt".
senor, senora, senorita (See"names" .) Normally, except inletters or where the full name isnot known, give the individual'sfull name without "Mr", "Ms","Mlle", "Srta." and so forth.
Standard Minimum Rules for theTreatment of Prisoners On firstreference put "United Nations"before the title. Afterwards, use"Standard Minimum Rules", not"SNI R".
Second World War Not "WorldWar II".
state Do not capitalize except informal title or quoted matter.
siege Not "seige".
size When estimating or describ-ing relative numbers follow thisrule:
"a few": less than a quarter ofestimated total;"some": between a quarter anda half of estimated total;"majority": more than half ofestimated total;"many", "a substantial num-ber": between half and threequarters of estimated total;"most": more than threequarters of estimated total.
socialist Capitalize only whenreferring to a political party,
In letters, if the full name isnot known, spell out "senor","senora", "senorita" on firstreference. Do not capitalizeexcept at the beginning of asentence. On second reference,abbreviate to "Sr." "Sra." and"Srta." . Always capitalize anduse full stops with abbreviations.
5554
state of siege subsidize
state of siege Do not capitalize. subjected to Over-used and oftenredundant. Not:
"They were subjected toharassment and torture" but"They were harassed andtortured".
State Party Formal designationof a state that has ratified atreaty, such as the InternationalCovenant on Civil and PoliticalRights. Plural: States Parties:
"The Secretary-General mustinform all States Parties of pro-posed amendments to eithercovenant."
substantive Not a synonym for"substantial". Meaning: "havinga separate and independentexistence".
state security Avoid using thisterm. The correct term is"security of the state" or"national security".
summarize
Statute Capitalize the "Statute"of Amnesty International. Donot refer to as "internationalstatute".
that, which Use "that" to intro-duce a clause essential to asentence. Do not set the clauseoff with commas.
•`The camps that containpolitical prisoners will beclosed." (Only those campswith political prisoners will beclosed. The clause is essentialto the sentence.)
summary (adj) Done or givenwithout delay or attention todetail. "Summary trials", nor-mally without the right of appeal,and "summary executions"violate the International Coven-ant on Civil and Political Rights.
stipulate In legal parlance maybe used as a synonym for "setforth", "specify", "lay down":
"The law stipulates."
take up In individual cases ofprisoners of conscience do notsay: "AI has taken up the case"without adding: "for adoptionas a prisoner of conscience". Ifit is an investigation case, donot use the phrase "Al has takenup the case" but: 'Al isinvestigating the case". Onlyuse the phrase "take up" inreferences to general statisticsor activities:
"AI takes up nearly 5,000individual cases a year."supersede Not "supercede".
supervise, supervision
straitjacketsubpoena, subpoenaed, sub-poenaing
target Avoid using this as a verb.
tear-gas
televise, televisionsub-committee Capitalize ("Sub-committee") only in full title.
subsequently Over-used. "After-wards" can often be substituted. temperature Use centigrade (see
"measures"): 80°C (no full stop).sub-standard subsidize
time Use 12-hour clock and nopunctuation:
"8.00 am"; "10.45 pm".But embargo times for news
releases are expressed in 24-hourclock, using Greenwich MeanTime:
"1700 hrs GMT, Wednesday,26 July 1981".
Use "which" to introduce aparenthetical clause. Put theclause between commas.
"The camps, which containpolitical prisoners, will beclosed." (All the camps will beclosed. The parentheticalclause , although it adds inform-ation, could be dropped fromthe sentence without changingthe meaning.)
As a rule of thumb, if "that"will fit comfortably, use it anddo not put the clause betweencommas.
Third World Do not confusewith non-aligned nations. Wherepossible, use a more precise termto describe the countries orregions to which you arereferring.
56 57
though trade uniontorture declaration try
though Avoid. Use "although". trade union, trade unions, tradeunionist, trade union leader
review all detention orders."4. Do not capitalize titles ingeneral references:
"The junta of colonels ruledfor seven years.""She is a former cabinetminister."
Treasurer The Treasurer ofAmnesty International is knownsimply as "the Treasurer", not"the international Treasurer".tranquillizer
titles Documents Underline(italics) the titles of: books,magazines, journals, newspapers,plays, paintings, sculptures, longpoems, films, radio and TVprograms, ships.
Put in quotation marks thetitles of: articles, essays, chaptersof books, short stories, songs,poems.
Do not underline (no italics)or put in quotation marks thetitles of laws or internationalinstruments.
triple-adopted, triple-adoptionHyphenate.
translations When translating adocument or the spoken worddo not reproduce awkward con-structions unnecessarily. Do notmake author or speech seemhalting or illiterate unless this isclear from the original, in whichcase, use isic1" after anyoddities.
try ( legal) An individual is triedby or before a court or tribunal,but tried before a bench.
If a title occurs many times ina text, a short form may be used.The short form should not becapitalized, for example, "theassembly", "the council", "thecommittee".French Only capitalize the firstword of a French title (unless theoriginal title uses more • capitalletters as in Le Monde, Le Figaroor les Nations Unies—inUN usageonly):
"Ensemble de regles minimapour le traitement des de tenus.
People 1. Always capitalizetitles before, or in apposition to,people's names:
"President Hastings Bandadeclared an amnesty.""Mohammed Abshir, theformer Police General, wasconvicted.""His Excellency, BadreddineSenoussa, Ambassador of theKingdom of Morocco . . ."Always capitalize titles that
refer to specific people:"The assassin's bullet struckthe Emperor.""The mission met the Com-missioner of Prisons.""The Ambassador's replyarrived the next day."Always capitalize titles that
refer to specific posts:"Two years later he declaredhimself Field Marshal.""Under the act, the Ministerof the Interior has the right to
torture Torture is "inflicted" onsomeone, not "practised" onthem.
torture declaration Use correctfull title on first reference:"TheUnited Nations Declaration onthe Protection of All Personsfrom Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatmentor Punishment".
"The declaration" or "thedeclaration against torture" isacceptable on second reference.The declaration was adoptedunanimously by the UnitedNations General AssemblyResolution 3452 (XXX) of9 December 1975.
58 59
urban areas urgent action
urban areas Use only if necessary ;otherwise use "towns" or"cities".
USSR Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics, the Soviet Union, nota synonym for "Russia".
Ulster Not a synonym forNorthern Ireland.
urgent action In EXTERNALdocuments, it is preferable to say :"An urgent action appeal wasissued", rather than simply "Anurgent action was issued".
UN United Nations Organization(see "United Nations").
undernourished One word.
UNESCO United Nations Educ-ational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization. Headquarters inParis.
afterwards. It consists of 43members appointed by govern-ments selected by the UnitedNations Economic and SocialCouncil. Do not confuse withthe Human Rights Committeeset up under the InternationalCovenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (see "Human RightsCommittee").
UNHCR Office of the UnitedNations High Commissioner forRefugees. Headquarters inGeneva.
United States of America Usefull name on first reference,followed by (USA). USAacceptable afterwards.
United Kingdom Not asynonym for "Britain", "GreatBritain" or "England". TheUnited Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Irelandcomprises England, NorthernIreland, Scotland and Wales.
Universal Declaration of HumanRights Use full title on firstreference. "The declaration" isacceptable afterwards. Thedeclaration was adopted by theUnited Nations General Assemblyon 10 December 1948. It doesnot require signature or ratific-ation by any member state (see"International Bill of HumanRights").
United Nations Use full name on -first reference, followed by (UN).No apostrophe is used in titlessuch as "United Nations GeneralAssembly".
United Nations Commission onHuman Rights Use full title,capitalized, on first reference."The human rights commission"or "the comission" acceptable
up-to-date (adj) But:"He brought it up to date."
update Both noun and verb areone word.
60 61
verbs Phrases should not beinserted between an auxiliaryverb and a main verb:
"Groups should, in letters togovernments, stress AmnestyInternational's impartiality."Instead: "In letters to govern-ments, groups should stressAmnesty International's im-partiality."
wall posters No hyphen.very Avoid this word. For em-phasis, use descriptive words andfac ts.
"Your letter came while I wasaway."
Do not use "whilst'.warden, warder Prison officersin the United Kingdom are"warders"; in the United Statesthey are "wardens". Also try :"guards", "j ailers", "prisono fficers".
white(s) Do not capitalize.Vice-President, Vice-Chairperson(See "titles".) Capitalize bothparts.
WMA World Medical Association.Headquarters in Ferney-Voltaire,France.
verbal See "oral".
warrant A written order givingofficial authority for something.violate Over-used. "Infringe"
can sometimes be substituted.
well-known (adj)
WHO World Health Organization.Headquarters in Geneva.
word counts To calculate thenumber of words you havewritten:
I. Count the lines on an averagepage.
whereabouts Treat as a pluralnoun:
"Please ask for informationabout the whereabouts ofMary McGuigan.""Her whereabouts are un-known."
Count the words in an average10 lines and divide by 10 to getthe average number of words ina line.
Multiply 1 by 2 and thenmultiply that by the total numberof pages.
which, that See "that".
while To avoid possible con-fusion, do not use to mean "and"or "although" (see "although").Use "while" only in its temporalsense:
of thumb: a double-typed page with 3cmhas 250 words; a triple-typed page with 3cmhas 175 words; a single-typed page with 3cmhas 375 words.
Rulespacedmarginsspacedmarginsspacedmargins
62 63
work for Xerox
work for, on behalf of Do notwrite: "Al works for prisoners".(In informal speech this isacceptable.) Instead write "Alworks on behalf of prisoners".
the list, for example, teachers, orfarm labourers, are not workerstoo:
wrong: "Workers, teachers,farm labourers and taxi-driverswere among those arrested."right: "Workers, includingteachers, farm labourers andtaxi-drivers, were among thosearrested." or "Teachers, farmlabourers, taxi-drivers andother workers were amongthose arrested."
workers Do not classify peopleas "workers" especially in listsas if this were a particular tradeor profession. Wherever possiblespecify the category of work:"industrial workers", "farmworkers" "steel workers".
Do not use "workers" in sucha way as to suggest the others on worldwide
Your Excellency In all lettersand communications openingwith "Your Excellency" allreferences to the person soaddressed must also be "YourExcellency". The possessive formis "Your Excellency's".
"Your Excellency,I have the honour to address
Your Excellency in connectionwith the recent announcementby Your Excellency's govern-ment stating that civilianswould now be liable to trial bymilitary courts set up underthe martial law legislationintroduced by Your Excellencylast March."
Xerox A trademark. Use "photo-copy" or "photocopier".
6564
Names of countries
The use of the endings -ize,-izing,-ization follows the Ox fordEnglish Dic tionary .
Words ending in -ise:advertise, advertisementadvisecomprisefranchiseexciseexerciseimproviseinciserevise, revisionsupervise, supervisiontelevise, television
Words ending in -yse:analyseparalyse
Words commonly found in Aldocuments:
authorizecriticizecivilizeemphasizemobilizeorganize, organizationpublicizerealizespecialize
Afghanistanthe Democratic Republic ofAfghanistan
AfghanAlbaniathe People's Socialist Republicof Albania
Albanian
Algeriathe People's Democratic Republicof Algeria
Algerian
Angolathe People's Republic of Angola
Angolan
Argentinathe Argentine Republic
Argentine
Australiathe Commonwealth of Australia
Australian
Austriathe Republic of Austria
Austrian
Bahamas(the)the Commonwealth ofBahamas
Bahamian
Bahrainthe State of Bahrain
Bahraini
Bangladeshthe People's Republic of Bangla-desh
(of) Bangladesh
BarbadosBarbadian
Belgiumthe Kingdom of Belgium
Belgian
Beninthe People's Republic of Benin
Beninese
Bhutanthe Kingdom of Bhutan
Bhutanese
Boliviathe Republic of Bolivia
Bolivian
Botswanathe Republic of Botswana
(of) BotswanaBrazilthe Federative Republic of Brazil
Brazilian
Bulgariathe People's Republic of Bulgaria
Bulgarian
Burmathe Socialist Republic of theUnion of Burma
Burmese
the
66 67
Bunindi
Burundithe Republic of Burundi
(of) Burundi
ByelorussianSovietSocialistRepublic (the)
ByelorussianCameroon, see United Republicof Cameroon (the)
CanadaCanadian
Cape Verdethe Republic of Cape Verde
Cape Verdean
Central African Republic (the)
Central AfricanChadthe Republic of Chad
(of) Chad
Chilethe Republic of Chile
Chilean
Chinathe People's Republic of China
Chinese
Colombiathe Republic of Colombia
Colombian
Egypt
Cubathe Republic of Cuba
Cuban
Cyprusthe Republic of Cyprus
Cypriot
CzechoslovakiatheCzechoslovakSocialist Re-public
Czechoslovak
Democratic Kampuchea(of) Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic People's Republic ofKorea (the)
(of) the Democratic People'sRepublic of Korea
Democratic Yementhe People's Democratic Repub-lic of Yemen
(of) Democratic Yemen
Denmarkthe Kingdom of Denmark
Danish, a Dane
Djiboutithe Republic of Djibouti
(of) Djibouti, a Djiboutian
Dominicathe Commonwealth of Dominica
(of) Dominica
Dominican Republic (the)
Dominican
Ecuadorthe Republic of Ecuador
Ecuadorian
Egyptthe Arab Republic of Egypt
Egyptian
El Salvador
El Salvadorthe Republic of El Salvador
Salvadorian
Equatorial GuineatheRepublicofEquatorialGuinea
(of) Equatorial Guinea
EthiopiaEthiopian
Fiji(of) Fiji
Finlandthe Republic of Finland
Finnish, a Finn
Francethe French Republic
French, the French
Gabonthe Gabonese Republic
Gabonese
Gambia(the)the Republic of the Gambia
Gambian
GermanDemocraticRepublic(the)
(of) the German DemocraticRepublic
Germany, Federal Republic of(of) the Federal Republic ofGermany
Ghanathe Republic of Ghana
Glianaian
Greecethe Hellenic Republic
Greek
Iran
GrenadaGrenadian
Guatemalathe Republic of Guatemala
Guatemalan
GuineatheRevolutionaryPeople'sRepublic of Guinea
Guinean
Guinea-BissautheRepublicof Guinea-Bissau
(of) Guinea-Bissau
Guyanathe Republic of Guyana
Guyanese
Haitithe Republic of Haiti
Haitian
Hondurasthe Republic of Honduras
Honduran
Hungarythe Hungarian People's Republic
Hungarian
Icelandthe Republic of Iceland
Icelandic, an Icelander
Indiathe Republic of India
Indian
Indonesiathe Republic of Indonesia
Indonesian
IrantheIslamicRepublicofIran
Iranian
Comoros (the)the Federal and Islamic Republicof the Comoros
Comorian
Congo (the)thePeople'sRepublicoftheCongo
Congolese
Costa Ricathe Republic of Costa Rica
Costa Rican
6869
IraqMalta Mauritania Poland
Iraqthe Republic of Iraq
Iraqi
Irelandthe Republic of Ireland
Irish, the Irish
Israelthe State of Israel
IsraeliItalythe Italian Republic
Italian
Ivory Coast ((he)the Republic of the Ivory Coast
(of) the Ivory Coast
Mauritaniathe Islamic RepublicMauritania
Mauritanian
MauritiusMauritian
Lebanonthe Lebanese Republic
Lebanese
Lesothothe Kingdom of Lesotho
(of) Lesotho
Liberiathe Republic of Liberia
Liberian
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the)the Socialist People's LibyanArab Jamahiriya
Libyan
Liechtensteinthe Principality of Liechtenstein
(of) Liechtenstein
Luxembourgthe Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
(of) Luxembourg
Madagascarthe Democratic Republic
of MadagascarMalagasy
Malawithe Republic of Malawi
Maldivian
Malaysiathe Federation of Malaysia
Malaysian
Maldivesthe Republic of Maldives
Maldavian
Malithe Republic of Mali
Malian
Maltathe Republic of Malta
Maltese
Nicaraguaof the Republic of Nicaragua
Nicaraguan
Niger (the)the Republic of the Niger
(of) the Niger
Nigeriathe Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigerian
Norwaythe Kingdom of Norway
Norwegian
Omanthe Sultanate of Oman
Omani
of
Pakistanthe Islamic Republic of Pakistan
(of) Pakistan, a Pakistani
Panamathe Republic of Panama
Panamanian
Papua New Guinea(of) Papua New Guinea, aPapua New Guinean
Paraguaythe Republic of Paraguay
Paraguayan
Peruthe Republic of Peru
Peruvian
Philippines (the)the Republic of the Philippines
Philippine, a Filipino
Polandthe Polish People's Republic
Polish, a Pole
JamaicaJamaican
JapanJapanese
Jordanthe Hashemite KingdomJordan
Jordanian
Kampuchea, Democratic, seeDemocratic Kampuchea
Kenyathe Republic of Kenya
Kenyan
Korea, see Democratic People'sRepublic of Korea (the); Republicof Korea (the)
Kuwaitthe State of Kuwait
Kuwaiti
Lao People's Democratic Repub-lic (the)
Lao, a Lao, the Lao
Mexicothe United Mexican States
Mexican
Monacothe Principality of Monaco
Monegasque
Mongoliathe Mongolian People's Republic
Mongolian
Moroccothe Kingdom of Morocco
Moroccan
Mozambiquethe People's Republic ofMozambique
Mozambican
NamibiaNamibian
Nauruthe Republic of Nauru
Nauruan
Nepalthe Kingdom of Nepal
Nepali
Netherlands (the)the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Netherlands, a Netherlander
New Zealand(of) New Zealand, a NewZealander
7071
Portugal Yemen, DemocraticSwitzerland Syrian ArabRepublic
Portugalthe Portuguese Republic
Portuguese
Syrian Arab Republic (the)Syrian
Qatarthe State of Qatar
(of) Qatar
Republic of Korea (the)(of) the Republic of Korea
Romaniathe Socialist Republic of Romania
Romanian
Rwandathe Rwandese Republic
Rwandese
Saint LuciaSaint Lucian
Samoathe Independent State of WesternSamoa
Samoan
San Marinothe Republic of San Marino
(of) San Marino
Sao Tome and Principethe Democratic Republic of SaoTome and Principe
(of) Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabiathe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian
Senegalthe Republic of Senegal
Senegalese
Seychellesthe Republic of Seychelles
(o,f) Seychelles, a Seychellois
United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland (the)
(01) the United Kingdom (ofGreat Britain and NorthernIreland), British
United States of America (the)
(o• the United States (ofAmerica), American
Upper Volta (the)the Republic of the Upper Volta
(of) the Upper Volta
Uruguaythe Eastern Republic of Uruguay
Uruguayan
United Republic of Cameroon(the)
Came roonian
United Republic of Tanzania(the)
Tanzanian
Tanzania„see United Republicof Tanzania ( the)
Thailandthe Kingdom of Thailand
Thai
Togothe Togolese Republic
Togolese
Tongathe Kingdom of Tonga
Tongan
Trinidad and Tobagothe Republic of Trinidad andTobago
(of) Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisiathe Republic of Tunisia
Tunisian
Turkeythe Republic of Turkey
Turkish, a Turk
Ugandathe Republic of Uganda
Ugandan
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Re-public (the)
Ukrainian
Union of Soviet Socialist Repub-lics (the)
(of) the Union of SovietSocialist Republics, (of) theUSSR, (of) the Soviet Union,Soviet
United Arab Emirates (the)(of) the United Arab Emirates
Sierra Leonethe Republic of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leonean
Singaporethe Republic of Singapore
Singaporean
Solomon Islands(of) Solomon Islands
Somaliathe Somali Democratic Republic
Somali
South Africathe Republic of South Africa
South African
Spainthe Spanish State
Spanish, a Spaniard
Sri Lankathe Democratic Socialist Republicof Sri Lanka
(of) Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan
Sudan (the)the Democratic Republic of theSudan
Sudanese
Surinamethe Republic of Suriname
Surinamese
Swazilandthe Kingdom of Swaziland
Swazi
Vatican City Statethe Vatican,
(of) the Vatican
Venezuelathe Republic of Venezuela
Venezuelan
Viet Namthe Socialist Republic of VietNam
Vietnamese
Swedenthe Kingdom of Sweden
Swedish, a Swede
Switzerlandthe Swiss Confederation
Swiss
Yementhe Yemen Arab Republic
Yemeni, a Yemenite
Yemen, Democratic, see Demo-cratic Yemen
72 73
Yugoslavia Zambia
Yugoslaviathe Socialist Federal Republic ofYugoslavia
Yugoslav Editors' marksZairethe Republic of Zaire
Zairian
Zambiathe Republic of Zambia
Zambian
Editors' marks are not the same as proof-readers' symbols. Editors'marks are placed in the text and most require no marginal notations.These marks should be used on all manuscripts to be typeset. Allmarks should be made in pencil by everyone unless instructedotherwise by the editor responsible for the final text. Unless you,an author, are making additions and corrections to your final draftalready typed triple space or double space, work on a photocopy: donot place editors' marks on the original.
She spoke ettt in Chicago
She ke in Chicago
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She spoloiin Chicago.
She spoke in Chicags, he police said.
She spokZ"aind the crowds praye in Chicago.
The Ion term objective
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She s in Chicago.
She i spoke Chicago.
She spoke in Chicago before hundreds ofwome
Her message was simple andeloquent. Delete lines and run on.
74 75
l-kr $peech was eloquent.
She spoke in chicago.
The Chica o Dail Sun.
A new movement is launched.
Chicago its heart to her. sink
She had twelve bodyguards.
Of her bodyguards,Odied.
The N eneral Assembly.
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